 |
East Church, now the Salem Witch Museum, 1901
|
|
|
|
Salem Witch Trials
March 1, 1692
Soon prisons were filled with more than 150 men and women from Salem and surrounding towns. Their names had been "cried out" by tormented young girls as the cause of their pain. Nineteen people were hanged, one man was crushed to death, and seventeen others died in prison before the witch-hunt was finally stopped. This kind of group panic is sometimes called "mass hysteria." The people of Salem were ripe for it. In those days many people believed in witches, and they were quick to believe the girls' accusations. When one girl cried "Witch!" others did the same.
page 2 of 2
|
