The Crucible An introduction to what really happened during the Salem Witchcraft years

Betty Parris's mother was not dead! She died in 1696, four years AFTER the Salem Witch Trials. Did you know?

In addition to Betty and her cousin Abigail, the Parris family was comprised of two other children. Thomas Susannah Did you know?

Abigail was 11, not 17.

John Proctor was 60, not 35. Elizabeth was his third wife. Proctor was not a farmer but a tavern keeper. Did you know?

Proctor’s children included a 15 year old daughter a 17 year old son John's 33-year-old son from his first marriage Did you know?

The first to become afflicted with Betty was Abigail, not Ann Putnam. The girls had violent, physical fits, not a sleep that they could not wake from.

Did you know? There never was any wild dancing rite in the woods led by Tituba. Tituba was married to John Indian, who never was mentioned in the play.

Did you know? The Putnams’ daughter was not named Ruth, but Ann, like her mother. The mother was referred to as "Ann Putnam Senior" and the daughter as "Ann Putnam Junior."

Did you know? Ann/Ruth was not the only Putnam child out of eight to survive infancy. In 1692, the Putnams had six living children, Ann being the eldest, down to 1-year-old Timothy.

Did you know? Rev. Parris claimed to Giles Corey that he was a "graduate of Harvard.“ Parris did not graduate from Harvard, although he had attended for a while before dropping out.

Did you know? Rebecca Nurse was hanged on July 19, John Proctor on August 19, and Martha Corey on September not all on the same day on the same gallows. Since the condemned were always allowed their last words and prayers, they would not have been hanged while praying,

Did you know? The only person executed who recited the Lord's Prayer on the gallows was Rev. George Burroughs. This caused quite a stir since it was believed at the time that a witch could not say the Lord's Prayer without making a mistake.

Did you know? Reverend Hale would not have signed any "death warrants," as he claims to have signed 17 in the play. That was not for the clergy, but the judiciary.

Did you know? The elderly George Jacobs was not accused of sending his spirit in through the window to the Putnam's daughter It was usually the opposite case: women were accused of sending their spirits into men's bedrooms.

Did you know? The hysteria did not die out "as more and more people refused to save themselves by giving false confessions." Actually, more and more people gave false confessions to save themselves as it became clear that confession could save one from the noose.

Abigail Williams probably couldn't have laid her hands on 31 pounds in her uncle’s house to run away with John Proctor. Parris's annual salary was contracted at 66 pounds, only a third of which was paid in money. Did you know?

Giles Corey was not executed for refusing to name a witness. He was accused of witchcraft and refused to enter a plea, which held up the proceedings. He was pressed to death with stones to try to force him to enter a plea so that his trial could proceed.

Did you know? "The afflicted" was not just a group of a dozen teenage girls -- there were men and adult women who were also "afflicted," including John Indian, Ann Putnam, Sr., and Sarah Bibber.