No witch was burned to death in the Salem witch trial.

Myth: During the trial of Salem wizards, people convicted of witchcraft were burned at the stake.

Not in Salem.

When you think of people who dealt with wizards hundreds of years ago, you may imagine a woman tied to the stake and sticking out of a pile of smoking wood. It is a cliche that burning witches has become a deeply rooted norm of political persecution. But the fact is, in Britain, it is not common to burn people convicted of witches. When the colony was established, British law prohibited the living from being burned to death, which meant that witches could not be burned to death for trial in American colonies.

The Salem Witchcraft Trial is probably the most famous political persecution in America. From 1692 to 1693, they took place in colonial Massachusetts, when the political persecution in Europe was gradually ending. Before hunting in Europe started around 1300, the ability to perform "magic" was acceptable. For example, people will use "magic" to heal others. Of course, if magic can be used for good, it can also be used for evil. This way of thinking laid the foundation for Salem's witchcraft trial.

You see, Salem went through a difficult period before hunting. 1689, after Britain went to war with France on American soil, refugees poured into the town. Many people living in new york, Quebec and Nova Scotia were displaced by the war, and the extra food in Salem put pressure on the resources of the town. This, in turn, lengthened the gap between the rich and the poor in Salem, causing a fierce debate among the local Puritans, who blamed the devil. There is also a great controversy between Putnam and Porter. The former includes an original plaintiff. Many people in this area stand on the same family or the other side, which has caused an extremely tense situation in this dispute.

In the same year, Reverend Samuel Paris became the first minister appointed by Salim, which was unpopular. Paris is also greedy, causing more controversy in the town.

1692 65438+ 10, three young girls began to have "seizures"-they would scream, mumble strange sounds, bark like dogs when called, unable to concentrate on a given task, and even twist themselves into an "impossible" posture. It started after the girls began to try fortune telling, trying to figure out how their lives would end and what their husbands would do for a living. This kind of thing was very common at that time. For example, one tradition is to put mistletoe under a pillow at night and burn it the next day. )

One of the girls is Betty Paris (9 years old), the daughter of Pastor Paris, another is his niece Abigail Williams (1 1 year old), the third is Ann putnam (12 years old), and the other is a powerful family member who has participated in the ongoing family struggle in this area.

When prayer could not solve the problem, the priest called in a doctor, who could not explain what caused the attack. He claimed that something supernatural was affecting girls. In February this year, the victims of "The Devil's Work" confessed to the judge that three women had the responsibility to let them attack: Sarah Osborne, Sarah Goode and "the slave of Paris".

These women were interrogated, but only Tituba admitted the crime. All three were later put in prison and not burned to death.

Although three suspicious witches were arrested, Salim's people began to suspect. In a large-scale hysteria-perhaps just taking advantage of this situation to get rid of a small number of enemies-both sides pointed their finger at witches, even the slightest crime. At the end of the hunting, about 200 people were accused of being witches. However, only 20 people were executed.

The first official execution was Bridget Bishop. She is regarded as a promiscuous woman and a gossip. Obviously, she must be a witch! Although she argued that the innocent court and the court set up by the Court of Final Appeal to handle witch trials found her guilty. On June 1692, she was hanged in a place called the Hanging Mountain.

Another 18 women followed the bishop's footsteps and swung around the gallows hill. In addition, an old man named Gilles Corey was crushed to death by a big stone. More people were tried and sent to prison, and some of them died in prison, including Sarah Osborne, one of the first convicted "wizards".

That's funny, Tituba. He admitted witchcraft from the beginning, but after being imprisoned for a year, someone paid her to get out of prison.

As the Salem witch trial proved, the most common way to deal with witches is public hanging. In Britain, witchcraft is considered as a "crime against * * *, a felony punishable by hanging". As the American colonies are still under British rule, hanging is Salem's way of treating wizards. Yes, in other parts of the world, witches are sometimes beheaded or drowned, and sometimes burned alive.

Probably because of what happened to witches after their death, burning witches as a popular execution method went down in history. The authorities usually burn the witch's body to protect themselves and the town from any evil she wants after her death.

1702 shortly after the Salem witch trial, the ordinary court declared the trial illegal after many people involved in the conviction admitted that their decision was wrong. 17 1 1 year, in order to alleviate the blow of bereavement, 600 pounds was given to the victim's heir, which restored the victim's good reputation. However, it was not until 1957 that Massachusetts officially apologized for this incident.

Refers to the little girl who started it, one of whom was Ann Putnam, and later apologized at 1706, stating:

I hope to be humble before God, because around 1992, my father's family was blessed by this sad and humble God. When I was a child, I should be taken care of by a god like God, and become a tool to accuse some people of committing serious crimes, and my life was taken away. Now I have legitimate reasons and sufficient reasons to believe that they are innocent. In that tragic period, it was Satan's great illusion that deceived me, which made me naturally afraid that I would bring innocent blood crimes to myself and this land with others, despite ignorance and carelessness; Although, what I said or did to anyone, I can honestly say before God and people that I didn't do it out of anger, malice or malice to anyone, because I didn't do such a thing to any of them; But what I did was ignorant and confused by Satan.

Especially, because I am the main tool to sue my wife and nurse and her two sisters, I have to lie in the dust and be humble, because I have caused such a tragic disaster to them and their families together with others; To this end, I will lie in the dust and earnestly pray for God's forgiveness, and for those who I cite as sad and offensive, their relationship will be deprived or accused.

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The word "witch" comes from why black cats are considered bad luck and why carving pumpkins is called "Jack-o 'lanterns". In the last trial in an American court, the testimony of a ghost proved to be the fact that candy pumpkins and Halloween helped change daylight saving time:

In Salem witch trials and many other witch hunting activities in the world, a large number of women are accused of being witches, and men are sometimes accused, as shown in the case of Gilles Corey. Interestingly, however, in Russia, far more men than women are accused of crimes. During the trial of Sarah Goode, her four-year-old daughter Dorothy was questioned. Dorothy was so scared that her mumbling answer was taken as evidence against her mother. When it comes to their evidence against the defendant, the trial faces some controversy. Many people put forward "spectral evidence"-that is, their dreams and hallucinations prove that the defendant is a witch. I wonder why "illusion" is not witchcraft. (1) Minister Cotton Mather and his father, CEO of Harvard University, Increment Mather used spectral evidence after the first hanging. However, the special courts in Ojell and Temir ignored their request. It was not until June 65438+10 that the special court was abolished and the new court banned spectral evidence. In the new court, only three of the 56 defendants were convicted. A brief history of Salem witch trials is a common mistake in Salem witch trials. Betty Paris Abigail Williams Ann putnam