1. WITCHCRAFT IN SALEM

2. Prior to Salem, 1692  100 people had been accused, 12 had been hanged.

3. Salem, 1692  In 1692, accusations against three women multiplied.  Could not try them immediately because royal governor did not arrive and arrange a trail for three months; by this time, hysteria out of control.  19 hanged on witches hill, and 80 year old Mr. Giles Gorey crushed with heavy stones.  Clergy and Colonial leaders recognized that fear of and resentment of neighbors, not witchcraft, was the problem in Salem.

4. How Could This Happen?  Belief that devil always present; constant struggle between God and devil, sermons filled with images of devil, hell, temptation.  Unexplainable circumstances, fear.  Old family animosities.  Population growth, pressure on farmland, resentment.  Tension between agricultural Salem Village and nearby commercial center Salem town.  An outbreak of food poisoning may have caused hallucinogenic behavior.  New Indian war on Massachusetts-Maine frontier caused hysteria.  Illustrates weak position of women in Puritan society.  Illustrates anxiety in tumultuous era of war, economic disruption, and political tension, and the erosion of the early generation’s utopian vision.