Salem Witch Hysteria, Aftermath
114 Accused, 19 Hanged, 1 Crushed to Death, 4 Died in Prison….
Sep 30, 2008
There was a lot of spectral evidence in the trials. Witnesses testified the accuseds’ ghosts visited them to do harm. The colony’s ministers were skeptical of this testimony and took action. Finally, the horror would end….
Death Knell for Salem Hysteria
Cotton Mather, Boston minister, told judges witches could take on spectral shape in order to torment their victims. He warned them they and the Devil were attacking the colony. He admitted Satan might try to confuse people by making the virtuous appear to be witches, but Mather urged them to continue the search.
By September’s end, many who held silence began to condemn the rapid convictions and uncertainty of spectral evidence. Prominent ministers convinced Increase Mather, Cotton’s father, the most respected minister in the colony, to write a paper about the dangers of accepting spectral evidence. He denounced ghostly visitations, arguing they might be the Devil’s ploy to fool people.
Governor Phips gave an order that this evidence would no longer be admitted. He dissolved the Court of Oyer and Terminer, banned further arrests and released many accused witches.
Aftermath of Salem Hysteria
- Trials were reconvened. Spectral evidence wasn’t allowed.
- Judge William Stoughton ordered executions of witches who were exempted by pregnancy. Phips rescinded this. Stoughton, the most committed to the trials, resigned his commission, furious that he couldn’t finish his work of ridding Salem of witches.
- Cotton Mather, other ministers, and Judge Samuel Sewall asked public pardon for their roles. Only Stoughton refused to admit error.
- There were more accusations of witchcraft, but ministers and judges refused to recognize them.
- Although people still believed in witchcraft, these men learned from Salem’s mistakes to be cautious of these allegations.
- Before the Rev. Samuel Parris was forced to leave Salem, he admitted he gave too much credibility to spectral evidence. Joseph Green replaced him as minister. To help heal the community, he seated the accusers with the accused, which appeared to help.
- Philip English, accused of witchcraft along with his wife, never forgave his persecutors for losing his property and reputation. In order to sever ties with Puritanism, he helped found St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.
- Little is known about what happened to The Afflicted. It’s believed Abigail Williams never recovered and died young. Betty Parris married and had five children, one of whom died insane. Ann Putnam, Jr. raised her siblings after her parents died. She asked for her church’s forgiveness, claiming she hadn’t acted from malice, but was deluded by Satan into denouncing innocent people.
- Someone, name unknown, bought Tituba, releasing her from jail.
- The General Court ruled that there would be a Fast Day to remember the evil that happened in Salem.
- The colony passed a legislative bill restoring the rights and good names of the accused and granted reparation to their heirs.
- Salem Village was renamed Danvers.
- In 1957, Massachusetts formally apologized for the persecutions.
- On the 300th anniversary of the trials, a witchcraft memorial designed by James Cutler was dedicated.
- The Danvers Tercentennial Committee persuaded the Massachusetts House of Representatives to issue a resolution to honor those who died was finally enacted on October 31, 2001, exonerating all.
Salem Epilogue
Humans weren’t the only ones to pay the toll for the persecutions. Land was affected. Fields were left untended; the planting season, interrupted. Those that were planted weren’t harvested. Crop failures and epidemics plagued Salem for years. Puritans felt that these happened because God was punishing them for innocent people’s deaths.
Salem’s final legacy is that it was the last of religious witch hunts. There were no more witchcraft trials in Massachusetts and no further executions in the colonies.
Related articles:
Salem's Witch Hunts and Mass Hysteria
Salem: More Witch Hunts & Accusations
Salem Witch Persecutions: Who Was Who
Sources:
Eric Maple, (Castle Books, 1964)
The Dark World of Witches,
The Encyclopedia of Witches & Witchcraft, Rosemary Ellen Guiley, (Facts on File, Inc., 1999)
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