Tituba
In the strict Puritan villages of Massachusetts Bay Colony in the late 1600s, people were uneasy about strangers and strange behavior. Puritans worried about the "evil eye", where a sudden illness or death of a pig was commonly misconstrued for "devil's work". It was a place where anyone different was not trusted - and Tituba was perhaps the most different among them. Not only was she a slave, which was unusual in the area, she was also a dark-skinned foreigner, setting her apart from the white Puritan villagers. The first witch accused in the Salem Witch Trials was an Indian slave named Tituba. She was one of the first three women accused of witchcraft, and the only member of this unfortunate trio to survive the year. Samuel Parris, a merchant from Salem, brought her from mysterious Barbados, an island in the Caribbean Sea. Everyone in Salem had heard the seamen's tales of voodoo and black magic on Barbados, of evil spells and strange ceremonies. This was a leading factor to the gossip and distrust that often surrounded her. She maintained the Parris's household with daily chores, and took after their children. For amusement, Tituba began telling stories to the two young girls she took care of, nine-year-old Elizabeth Parris
"In the devil's book," she declared, "I have seen the names of two other Salem women--Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne." She added, "I saw their nine names written red like blood." Tituba was the first to confess for one reason, to avoid further punishment. By admitting her guilt, Tituba could then name other witches, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne, and come away from Salem with her neck intact. In late February of 1692, Reverend Samuel Parris called in a doctor to examine his nine-year-old daughter, Betty, and eleven-year-old niece, Abigail Williams-both of whom were suffering from spontaneous fits. The children were soon diagnosed as victims of witchcraft, which set off an outbreak of panic and hysteria throughout Salem. Fear exploded in the Salem witch trials and can perhaps be considered the most frightening case of mass hysteria in American history. Before it ended in the spring of 1693, 20 innocent people had been executed, 150 were imprisoned and facing the same fate. And to think it all began with the wild stories from the lips of a single slave. Like Tituba, 55 of the accused escaped execution by confessing and naming others. But more than 100 courageously protested innocence while in jail, and a growing number of villagers began speaking out against the trials. In exploring the background material on
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 893
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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