Salem Witchcraft Trials
Salem, Massachusetts is located along a beautiful, vivacious harbor about 16 miles northeast of Boston. Salem has been known for a very long time for its many interesting historic sites. Some of these sites include places such as the birthplace of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the House of Seven Gables (this is where Hawthorne wrote his famous novel), the Essex Institute, and the Peabody Museum. The Essex Institute and the Peabody Museum both have a huge selection of many preserved relics from the voyages of Salem ships. Also, the very first settlement in Salem has been reconstructed into a Pioneer Village. Probably one of the most recognized historic sites, if not the most sought after tourist attraction, would have to be the one and only Witch House. In this Witch House was held many preliminary hearings for the witch trials. The so called "witchcraft scare" began in 1692 and lasted only about one year. There were thought to be witches in Salem in 1692 who in return were punished horribly for the extremely short time span of this act which started under so little circumstances ("Salem" 53). A "witch" is defined in a variety of ways, all including being exclusively insidious, but the on
e main point is extremely clear, this message is that: to practice witchcraft was to be in league with the devil to do evil. Being accused of witchcraft was a stigma that the person would have to live with the rest of their life or they could take the final punishment for their crime, death. In William West's novel "The Kinds of Witches" he writes that "a witch or hag is she which being eluded by a league made with the devil through his persuasion, inspiration and juggling, thinketh she can design what matter of evil things soever, either by thought or imprecation, as to shake the air with the lightnings and thunder, to cause hail and tempests, to remove green corn and trees to another place, to be carried of her familiar (which hath taken upon him a deceitful shape of a goat, swine, calf, etc.) Into some mountain far distant, in a wonderful short space of time, and sometimes to fly upon a staff or fork, or some other instrument, and to spend all the night after with her sweetheart, in playing, sporting, banqueting, dancing, dalliance, and divers other devilish lists and lewd disports, and to show a thousand such monstrous mockeries." In 1646 John Gaule told the jurymen of England that there were eight classes of witches: 1) the diviner, gypsy, or fortune telling witch, 2) the astrologian, stargazing, planetary, prognosticating witch, 3) the chanting, canting, or calculating witch, 4) the veneficial or poisoning witch, 5) the exorcist or conjecturing witch, 6) the gastronomic witch, 7) the magical, speculative, sciental, or arted witch, 8) the nercrometer. These definitions of witchcraft show exactly what villagers looked for in persons back in those days. But, according to the Law of Moses a witch is: "One that shall use, practice or exercise any invocation or conjuration of any evil or wicked spirit ... or to take up any dead man, woman or child... where the dead body resteth... part of any dead person, to be employed or used in any manner of witchcraft... whereby any person shall be killed, destroyed, wasted, consumed,
Some common words found in the essay are:
Law Moses, Kinds Witches, Witch House, John Gaule, Salem Witchcraft, Gallows Hill, Sarah Osborn, Salem Massachusetts, Peabody Museum, Village Probably, accused witchcraft, women accused, accused witches, males accused, salem witchcraft, essex institute peabody, witchcraft scare, historic sites, witch house, gallows hill, essex institute, women accused witchcraft, institute peabody museum,
Approximate Word count = 1375
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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