How are the salem witch trials viewed today

Her website Spiritual Travels features holy sites around the world. One man was pressed to death: Giles Corey. May they rest in peace, and may we never again hunt witches, in whatever form they appear. Share This! Loading Comments For example, the concept of precedent usually provides stability and sensibility to the decision-making process, preventing wildly irrational aberrations. The Salem court, however, could rely on the grisly precedent of hundreds of years of European witch hunts to validate its proceedings.

Similarly, the concept of relevance usually keeps trials focused on the facts that actually bear on the guilt or innocence of the accused. In Salem, however, relevance did more harm than good. After all, whether evidence qualifies as relevant depends on our understanding of reality: if we believe nonsense, then we will think absurdities are relevant to determining the truth. The inability of some of the accused to do so therefore confirmed their guilt. It made no difference that the failure could be easily explained by illiteracy, fluency, stress, or mental incapacity.

The proceedings in Salem offer many other lessons as well. They confirm the importance of impartial judges the Salem magistrates were anything but. They reveal the dangers of merging church and state the Salem law echoed an injunction from the book of Exodus. The governor of the colony, upon hearing that his own wife was accused of witchcraft ordered an end to the trials.

However, 20 people and 2 dogs were executed for the crime of witchcraft in Salem. One person was pressed to death under a pile of stones for refusing to testify. In Parliament passed the Witchcraft Act which defined witchcraft as a crime punishable by death. This changed who was seen as a witch and how they were prosecuted over time. The Salem witch trials began during the spring of , after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, was accused of being possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft.

In this spooky book from the nonfiction An Unsolved Mystery from History picture book series, tragedy strikes Salem, Massachusetts, in as the community is torn apart by accusations of witchcraft.

The Salem trials remind us to beware of the work that fear and ignorance do in our own time, in our own society, and in our own hearts and minds. They call us to a place of courage and reason. What was the impact of the Salem Witch Trials? Why do we still study Salem Witch Trials? What were the Salem Witch Trials and why were they significant? Do witch hunts still happen? What were the consequences of being a witch? How did the Salem witch trials affect the colonies?

Why is the crucible important today? The Crucible continues to be relevant and sorely needed in the 21st century because it reflects society back onto its audience , regardless of which country or community is staging the play. How did politics affect the Salem Witch Trials? Why were the Salem Witch Trials unfair?

Who was the youngest person killed in the Salem witch trials? Dorothy Good. How many witches were killed in England? Why did witch trials happen? How do historians interpret the events of the Salem Witch Trials? At least two people are dead. So what can be done to stop witch trials or accusations of witchcraft? AIDS and poverty are very real sources of fear. People project their fears onto unfortunate victims.

There has never been a proven case of witchcraft in all of human history. On the other hand, there are thousands of victims of witch hunts. People accused of witchcraft, if they survive their ordeal at all, often end up with ruined lives. In the end, it is the witch hunters who should be feared more than the people whom they accuse of witchcraft. Quick action by respected authority figures is effective in stopping witch hunts.

In , an 8-year-old girl in London, England, was accused of being a witch by a family member. Three family members were held accountable for treating the girl as a witch.

In , the government of South Africa decided to do something about witchcraft fear in that country. They also sent police to work with traditional healers and village chiefs. The police told them if they accuse a person of witchcraft and that person ends up being killed, the healers and village chiefs will be held responsible.

This Zulu man is a songoma, or witch doctor. Photograph by Chris Johns. Amnesty International. United Nations. United Nations agency responsible for health. Media Credits The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. Media If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer.

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