Salem Witch Trials

I'm guessing that you read that in a book you found in the fiction section. It never happened.

By the end of the Salem witch trials, 20 people were dead. 19 by hanging and one, Giles Corey, was pressed to death. Another 4 are known to have died in prison though there may have been as many as 13. Around 150 people were imprisoned.

Many factors contributed to the ending of the trials. John Proctor, while in prison, wrote to the magistrates in Boston, asking them to move the trials there with different judges. This led to a meeting between 8 officials from surrounding areas including Increase Mather, in which spectral evidence was banned. By the time this decision was reached, John and many others were already dead. Spectral evidence was most of the evidence used against the accused "witches" and so without it, there was no real reason to convict them.

Also, doubt spread among the people when good people such as Rebecca Nurse were hanged, and also when George Burroughs perfectly recited the Lord's Prayer before he was hanged. Considering witches were not supposed to be able to hear let alone say the Lord's name, this caused people to seriously question everything they believed in.

Giles Corey being pressed to death for refusing to stand to trial also affected people greatly.

Eventually it wasn't just the skeptics and rebels, but also the powerful and well-connected who were being accused. This made people change their minds pretty quickly too. Increase Mather pointed out that the devil could take the form of an innocent person, so how can you really tell who was guilty and who was not? He said, "It were better that 10 suspected witches should escape than one innocent person should be condemned."

Bideford witch trial happened in 1682.

It prompted people to condem those whom they wanted the land/livestock ect. of. those who were convicted lost all their possessions

Dorcas Good, four-year-old daughter of Sarah Good, became the first child to be accused of witchcraft when three of the girls complained that they were bitten by the specter of Dorcas. (The four-year-old was arrested, kept in jail for eight months, watched her mother get carried off to the gallows, and would "cry her heart out, and go insane.")

Yes, "Salem Witch Trials" should be capitalized because it refers to a specific historical event. Proper nouns, including names of events, are typically capitalized in English. Therefore, both "Salem" and "Witch Trials" should be written with initial capital letters.

They began when girls began having epilepsy-like fits, which were diagnosed as bewitchment. The trials ended when the governor outlawed spectral evidence, the insubstanial main evidence used in the trials, after his wife was accused.

No. The human beings of Salem Village, those colonial villagers with their individual psychologies full of emotion and thought, stress, ambition and passion, are hardly present in the histories, or merely presented as two-dimensional characters in a time-line narrative. The human dimension would need to be "fleshed out" and "filled in" for anyone to really understand the "how" and "why" of what happened in Salem Village in 1692. Well researched historical fiction (not nonfiction) can provide this level of insight that is missing in the works of historians. Fictional interpretations that make sense about the Salem witch hunt do exist.

McCarthy's tactics during the Red Scare were similar to the Salem witch trials in that both relied on fear, paranoia, and the targeting of perceived threats to societal norms. In both instances, individuals were accused without substantial evidence, leading to public hysteria and a willingness to abandon due process. Additionally, both movements were driven by a desire to root out alleged subversion—whether it be communism in the 1950s or witchcraft in the 17th century—resulting in the persecution of innocent people. Ultimately, both cases highlighted the dangers of mass hysteria and the consequences of scapegoating.

Miller's description of McCarthyism parallels the Salem Witch Trials in their shared themes of mass hysteria, scapegoating, and the dangers of conformity. Both events reflect how fear can lead to irrational behavior and the persecution of innocent individuals based on unfounded accusations. My reaction to Miller's article highlights the importance of safeguarding civil liberties and the need for critical thinking in the face of societal pressure, reminding us that history can repeat itself if we are not vigilant.

Generally speaking, someone who believes they are a witch will tell others. Or not. Telling people you are pagan/wiccan/witch is a personal choice. You have the option of not telling anyone, ever.

If you want to know if your friend/child/spouse/family member/lover is a witch, ask them and make a point not to flip out if they do decided to tell you. Dont flip out if they dont tell you either.