Salem Witch Trials History Essay Example

The Salem witch trial began in 1692. Tragically, more than 20 people were murdered and over 150 accused of being a witch. 150 people were incarcerated, 19 hung. Not only people, but dogs, and pets were killed and accused of witchcraft as well. If you were accused, there was no way out.

Sarah Goods last words before she was killed were “God will give you blood to drink.” Twenty-five years later the reverend who was prosecuting her, had a blood burst which caused him to die. Sarah Good was accused of witchcraft and the use of the Devils practice. As a result of that, her 4-year-old daughter was also murdered because of her mothers’ actions. 

This happened to many innocent people in Salem Massachusetts. As an example, to test if you were a witch, they would tie your arms and legs to a chair, throw you into a lake, and if you floated, you were a “witch.” Innocent people were being killed just because they were accused of being a witch, with no real proof. Some women would confess that they were using witchcraft and would be killed, and fined.  And what is shocking, was that it took the commonwealth of Massachusetts until 1957, to apologize for these horrific actions. They never said, “Sorry about murdering your ancestors!” until 265 years later as a formal apology.  

Economics also were a problem during these unstable time. Farmers and workers couldn’t provide for their families because people weren’t sure if they were witches. And because this is all in Massachusetts the freezing cold winters come pretty quickly, so that means dead crops and plants. Economics were failing, people were being killed and their kids, families were falling apart literally. Salem was a bad place to be in this time and it was scary! The good thing was only about 20 people were killed; it could have been much worse.

Today, Salem is a HUGE tourist attraction. It got its nickname “Witch Town” because of all its dark history. They get over 500k visitors just in the Halloween season. Many people like to visit the room where the jury and trials were and pretend there being accused... Back when the witch trials happened a sheriff that helped murder one of the witches dropped dead from a heart attack, and some say they can hear his ghost lurking around graveyards in Salem.

Only 43,252 people live there now because of the spooky history. Salem has been called haunted, scary, and creepy. And as someone who has been there, I kind of agree? Well, it was definitely scarier 200 years ago, but it’s gotten much better. And there Halloween parties are crazy! But it does have this kind of weird sensation there. They have made frighteningly good profits from this scary happening. 

But at the end of the day, it’s disturbing to think about this city using it’s disgusting and horrific past to make light of its and profits in modern times. I can’t help but think of the ancestors of people like Sarah Good and others that died. Do you think they are still mad at Salem Massachusetts?   

Work cited page

“The Salem Witch Trials: The History and Story of the Witch Trials in Salem.” Ghost City Tours, https://ghostcitytours.com/salem/salem-witch-trials/. 

Blakemore, Erin. “Women Weren't the Only Victims of the Salem Witch Trials.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 13 Oct. 2017, https://www.history.com/news/women-werent-only-victims-of-salem-witch-trials?li_source=LI&li_medium=m2m-rcw-history. 

“Salem Witch Trials.” Travel Channel, https://www.travelchannel.com/interests/haunted/articles/salem-witch-trials.