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Salem Witch Trials

Salem Witch Trials

Have you ever heard people talking about witches, those who usually dress in dark colors, have magic powers, and can do evil things to the human beings? Today, most of us seem to agree that witches are just an imagined character in stories while there still are a small number of superstitious people who believe in witchcraft and spells. The original story took place in America in the 17th century. And the most famous case about witch-hunt was in Salem, Massachusetts.
The story started with the confession of Tituba, a woman who tried to tell the future by using “a make-shift crystal ball.”   As a result, there was a belief that witches really existed and they could do something very harmful to normal people. Those convicted of witchcraft were persecuted by the government (or the church) and many of them were not even tried.
But how did they know if someone was a witch? How did they prove it? There were two popular methods. The first one was looking for the devil marks. They shaved the whole body of the accused person and used a needle or a stick to test any marks they could find. If there was no pain, or no blood, then it was unnatural. And if someone was unnatural, he must be a witch. The second method was called “swimming a witch”. The accused person was put into water. People believed that only witches with their magic powers could float on water. Therefore, if the man floated, he again was unnatural, hence must be a witch.
However, not everybody believed killing a witch was to protect himself and the community. There were a number of people (mostly the merchant title class and the church) who exploited the situation to pursue their purposes. Back in the 17th century, the Roman Catholic Church had an idea that everyone who did not believe in its doctrine must be a heretic. And therefore, it tried to accuse the victim of casting spells or doing something evil such as talking to Satan. Another common cause was from the tension among...