One of the most devastating events in history was the Salem Witchcraft Trials. Due to a few hysterical girls' accusations and the fear of a village, twenty people were executed and hundreds were put in jail. Now the question still asked today is, "Were the people accused really witches possessed by the devil?" The belief today is that no, they were not witches nor were they involved with the devil. In fact, the people who were at fault were really the accusers.

The Puritan people (the people involved with the trials) had endured many hardships and dangers, which they blamed on the devil. This helped fuel their very religious and superstitious ways. In fact, the minister's sermons were often times more anti-devil than pro-Christ. In addition, being cheerful and playing were considered very non-religious activities to these people. Their entire lives were devoted to working, and the children were usually very bored. If a little girl was caught playing with a doll, she was sent to the minister for a long lecture, since even dolls were considered to play a part in witchery. When the girls first started

acting disturbed, it was after hearing stories about children who had been tormented by witches. The girls would throw tantrums and have fits in which they would run around, screaming that they were being hurt. This kind of behavior was defined as being an act of the devil. But strangely enough, they never seemed to have these fits when there was not an audience around to see them. Therefore, the bewildered people asked the girls who harmed them, and the girls just started giving them names of fellow villagers.

They were asked who else was guilty of being a witch, since they most likely had come in contact with other witches. Many innocent people were brought forth as witches in this way. Some of the accusers were thought to have been trying to get back at their enemies by accusing them of witchcraft. In one incident, the girls who were the main accusers were giggling as they said they would have Goody Proctor hang. When questioned about this, they declared that they "must have some sport".

Another piece of evidence proving there was fraud in the courtroom was that one of the accusers was reported to have been seen taking pins out of her dress, sticking hersel

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Approximate Word count = 792
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)