In Search of History

Salem Witch Trials

In 1692, in the town of Salem, Massachusetts, several young girls accused over one hundred persons of witchcraft; twenty were executed. What drove the sleepy town of Salem to this murderous hysterical frenzy? The Salem Witch Trials examines this famous incident in colonial America that remains one of the greatest mysteries in American history. Historians have found that the backdrops for this historical drama include economic instability, religious anxieties, class antagonisms and rigid gender roles. The Salem Witch Trials would be useful for classes on American History, American Culture, Women’s History, Religion, and Civics. It is appropriate for middle school and high school.

• Aberrant
• Animosity
• Consecrate
• Diagnosis
• Exacerbated
• Excruciating
• Exonerate
• Heretics
• Histrionics
• Hysteria
• Impetus
• Inviolable
• Lurid
• Malignant
• Misogyny
• Paranoia
• Pariah
• Phenomenon
• Purulent
• Rampant
• Superstitions
• Tangible
• Theocracy
• Unabated

Discussion Questions

1. What was the Inquisition? How did this movement help foster witch-hunts during the Middle Ages?

2. Witch-hunts were sometimes more than an absolute belief that someone practiced witchcraft. How have witch-hunts been used as tools to remove an enemy or for economic or political gain?

3. In order to convict someone of witchcraft, you first had to prove that he or she was a witch. What were some of the methods used to condemn witches?

4. Witchcraft hysteria gripped Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Why was Salem particularly vulnerable to witch-hunts?

5. The town of Salem, like Boston, strove to be an example of Puritan piety and order. How might the strict codes of the Puritan religion have fostered anxiety in the community?

6. What is misogyny? How did affect it the witch-hunts? What are some other areas or events in history in which misogyny had played a role? Does misogyny exist today?

7. The young women accused their neighbors on the grounds of spectral evidence. What was this spectral evidence? Why were specters so dangerous to use as evidence?

8. Tituba, the slave who entertained the young girls with stories of her childhood and voodoo, confessed to witchcraft. Why?

9. What was the role of status, or standing in the Salem community in the witch accusations and trials?

10. Why did these young girls accuse so many people of witchcraft?

11. Discuss the impact of the Salem Witch Trials on the American legal system.

Extended Activities

1. Create a dramatic reenactment of the Salem Witch Trials.

2. Design and create a memorial for the victims of the Salem Witch Trials.

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