Salem Witch Trials

By taylor.pafford
  • Salem is settled.

    Salem is settled.

    No specfic date is listed Salem, MA was settled by a group of Puritians in New England.

  • Tituba was accused of witchcraft.

    Tituba, at the request of neighbor Mary Sibley, bakes a "witch cake" and feeds it to a dog. According to an English folk remedy, feeding a dog this kind of cake, which contained the urine of the afflicted, would counteract the spell put on Elizabeth and Abigail. The reason the cake is fed to a dog is because the dog is believed a "familiar" of the Devil.

  • Rebecca Nurse and a few other people are sentenced to hang.

    Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Sarah Wildes, Sarah Good, and Elizabeth Howe are tried, pronounced guilty and sentenced to hang.

  • English law makes witchcraft a capital crime.

    No specfic date listed Basically, that said that if you were accused of witchcraft, you died.

  • England declares that the colonies may not self-govern.

    No specfic date listed You are not allowed to set your own laws.

  • Doctor Griggs, who attends to the "afflicted" girls, suggests that witchcraft may be the cause of their strange behavior.

    This is when the main accusing started.

  • Tituba confesses.

    Magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin examine Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne for "witches teats." Tituba confesses to practicing witchcraft and confirms Good and Osborne are her co- conspirators.

  • The General Court declares the 1692 trials unlawful.

    The General Court declares the 1692 trials unlawful. No more Witch Trials!

  • Ann Putnam Jr., one of the leading accusers, publicly apologizes for her actions in 1692.

    Ann Putnam Jr., one of the leading accusers, publicly apologizes for her actions in 1692.

  • Massachusetts formally apologizes for the events of 1692.

    Massachusetts formally apologizes for the events of 1692.