Die Hexenprozesse von Salem (Salem witch trials) im Jahr 1692 bildeten den Beginn einer Reihe von Verhaftungen, Anklagen und Hinrichtungen wegen Hexerei in Neuengland. The six hundred Salem residents lived in two distinctly different communities—Salem Town and Salem Village. However, the village inhabitants, both church members, and non-members selected a committee, headed by Nathaniel Putman to look for a new minister.In the 1630s the communities grew as more and more people immigrated to the area due to the repressive government of King Charles I in England.
The girls subsequently began to exhibit some bizarre behavior patterns and, when examined by a physician, were considered possible victims of witchcraft.Tituba tried to counter these effects by working a magic spell. When the trials began in June, in many cases the only evidence against the accused was the testimony of the girls who said they were victims of witchcraft. On February 29, under pressure from magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne, the girls blamed three women for afflicting them: Tituba, the Parris' Caribbean slave; Sarah Good, a homeless beggar; and Sarah Osborne, an elderly impoverished woman.The Salem witch trials occurred in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. Known as King William's War to colonists, it ravaged regions of upstate New York, Nova Scotia and Quebec, sending refugees into the county of Essex and, specifically, Salem Village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. With an Account of Salem Village and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft and Kindred Subjects Language: English: LoC Class: BF: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Psychology, Philosophy, Psychoanalysis: Subject: Witchcraft -- Massachusetts -- Salem -- History -- 17th century Subject: Salem (Mass.) Magistrates even questioned Sarah Good's 4-year-old daughter, Dorothy, and her timid answers were construed as a confession.
Also in Salem, the Peabody Essex Museum houses the original court documents, and the town's most-visited attraction, the Salem Witch Museum, attests to the public's enthrallment with the 1692 hysteria.On May 27, 1692, Governor William Phipps ordered the establishment of a Special Court of Oyer (to hear) and Terminer (to decide) for Suffolk, Essex and Middlesex counties. This was due to the Puritans being in power in England and the persecution had ended. 1637 - The first Salem ship sails to the West Indies to trade salted cod. The defense must not have been convincing, because she was found guilty and, on June 10, became the first person hanged on what was later called Gallows Hill.The displaced people created a strain on Salem's resources.
Phipps replaced it with a Superior Court of Judicature, which disallowed spectral evidence and only condemned 3 out of 56 defendants. Unhappily, Salem Village experienced continuing dissension over its new church. 1637 -First Militia Muster is organized by Massachusetts Bay Colony Court. However, that same year, 14 villagers fell into arrears on their taxes for the church support, officially designating the discontent of some church members.The first minister, Reverend James Bayley, arrived in Salem Village in October 1672. From the beginning, some members of the village felt that Bayley was hired “upon the invitation of a few.” Like other fledgling communities, the procedures for hiring were informal and irregular.By 1640 Salem would be the second most important colonial town next to Boston, but the high rate of immigration began to slow.