Salem Witch Trials
... In 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, several young girls began to behave strangely. ... The little village of Salem was hysterical and soon became known as “Witch City” Salem definitely lived up to it’s name, too. Excited to join this witch crazy town were the “afflicted girls” as they are known as. ... This method worked very well for the girls and almost everyone in town believed who they picked as their witch. ... Another person who agreed with the hunts and trials was Cotton Mather who egged on and helped them continue. Abigail Williams, one of the “afflicted girls” claimed that she could see the spirit of the witch that cast the spells on her (Rebecca Nurse). ... , a very important piece in the puzzle of the Salem witch trials, was the leader of the “afflicted girls”, although only 12 years old at the time, she accused 64 people of practicing witchcraft. ... These types of behavior were, being anxiously preoccupied with one’s spiritual condition, disordered speaking, hysterical crying, fainting, long fits of screaming and running around, delusions, the feeling of pricks and pinches on the body, strange contortions of the body, animal sounds, strange motor activity, extreme immobility, anorexia, delusions of being forced to drink a poisonous liquid by the accused witch, babbling nonsense, and intermissions where periods of silence were taken. ... One of the most famous trials of the Salem witch hunts was the trial against the old African American slave, Tituba which started the Salem, Massachusetts witch hunts. ... The daughter claimed that her mother turned her into a witch at age six.