Riley Cochrane English G 10/16/12 Tituba Riley Cochrane English G 10/16/12

Birth/Death I was born in 1665 somewhere in South America. Although I was accused of being a witch, and admitted to being one. It was not the cause of my death. Samuel Parris beat me and told me if I confessed to being a witch he would let me go and I would no longer be his slave. When I admitted to this I was not granted my freedom like promised. Eventually I moved away from Salem Village with my husband John so the Witch Trials in fact did not kill me.

Birth/Death (continued) After I had had been released from jail for confessing to witchcraft I was sold to another person as a slave. Samuel Parris refused to pay for my removal from prison, which ended up in me getting another owner. After this point not much is know about my life, some researchers say that John and I had a child named Violet that lived with Reverend Parris, and that I moved away from Salem and later died.

Childhood/Family Life When I was about 15 years old I was taken from my South American home and brought to Barbados as a slave. There, I was purchased by a man named Samuel Parris. In 1680 I moved to Boston, Massachusetts with Mr. Parris and another one of his slaves, John Indian. In 1689 I married John, and at the same time we all moved to Salem, Massachusetts where Samuel Parris was going to be the new town pastor.

Education I received basically no education throughout my whole life. While in South America as a young child I did not learn in a formal school. When I was captured and sold as a slave in my teen years I also didn’t receive any formal education. My background as a slave gave me no formal education at all, but I was educated in old Caribbean magic and fortune telling games.

Career I was responsible for taking care of the three Parris children, Thomas, Betty, and Susahanna because Elizabeth Parris, the Reverend’s wife, was often sick. I would entertain the children at night by telling them stories bout magic, and playing fortune telling games that I learned in the Caribbean. Betty’s cousin, Abigail Williams would often join the large group of girls that would come and watch me tell stories and play games.

Career (continued) These girls from the Salem Village got the nickname of being members of the “circle girls”. I should not have been playing these games with Betty, Abigail, and her friends, because it was against the Puritan religion to learn or even talk about witchcraft related items.

Religious Practices Spending my childhood years in the Caribbean, I learned the practices of that region, and voodoo was very popular. Although not a religion it was one of the practices that I might have leaned as a child. This corresponds with the fact that my voodoo is what caused Reverend Parris’ children to experience fits of hysterics, caused by my forbidden beliefs.

Involvement in the Salem Witch Hysteria I was famously the first person to be accused of being a witch during the Salem Witch Trials. Also I was the first person to admit to being a witch in the Salem Village. I was accused by Betty Parris, Elizabeth Parris, and Abigail Williams after they started to have strange symptoms which could only be described as provoked by witchcraft.

Involvement in the Salem Witch Hysteria (continued) I didn’t want to be the only one accused of being a witch, so I mentioned that Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne were my partners in witchcraft. Many people in the town believed that I had used my Caribbean voodoo to teach these girls fortune telling games. But the fortune telling skills I taught the girls were actually common New England practices, and were not some forbidden Caribbean rituals.

Involvement in the Salem Witch Hysteria (continued) Because Betty Parris had accused me of being a witch, Reverend Parris beat me until I confessed to a crime that I was not a part of. I was put into jail for admitting to being a witch , but I was lucky enough never to get a trial, which I would have most definitely lost.

Works Cited "Salem Witch Trials - The People - Tituba - DiscoverySchool.com." Salem Witch Trials - The People - Tituba - DiscoverySchool.com. Discovery Education, n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/salemwitchtrials/people/tituba.html>. FAQ's About The Salem Witch Trials. Salem Witch Museum, n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://www.salemwitchmuseum.com/education/faq.shtml>. "Witches of Massachusetts." LegendsofAmerica.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://www.legendsofamerica.com/ma-witches-t.html>.