Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The Salem Witch Trials Newspapers: What Can You Learn From Your Classmates?


Students in Mr. Nekrosius's humanities project groups recently researched, wrote, and designed online newspapers about the Salem Witch Trials. To learn more, there is a link to the newspapers below.

For Ms. Doyle's humanities classes, here is your blog post assignment:


Choose ONE of the online newspapers created by Mr. Nekrosius's project groups and spend twenty minutes browsing through the various pages (you can find links to the two newspapers here). When have finished reading the newspaper, post a comment in which you write the following:

1.Three things you learned about the trials and/or the people of Salem--be specific, and be thorough.
2. A detailed connection between the events of Salem and the events you studied for your project.
3. One question for an author or one of the designers of the newspapers.

Remember:

You should include ONLY your first name and your class period (NO LAST NAMES) at the end of your blog post.

Also, remember to be positive, constructive, and detailed in your responses! Your posts are due Friday, December 2nd.

37 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Since I was also part of the SWT Newspaper group in Periods 1/2, I had already learned about the witch trials. However, this newspaper was also very useful and informative, and I learned quite a bit in addition to what I learned during the time I was doing the project myself. One additional thing that I learned by reading the Period 6/7 newspaper that I had not already known was that Governor Phips stopped the trials only when the girls accused his wife, and not before. Another thing that I did not know was that Ann Putnam was the main accuser. It is interesting that one of the girls; not even the oldest at that; had caused so much damage in the Salem community. Yet another thing that I did not know was that was that Massachusetts did not apologize for its actions until 1957. The fact that Ann Putnam accused so many people relates directly to my project in that, Ann Putnam also accused Rebecca Nurse, the matronly old lady that I researched.If I had to ask the designers of the website one question, it would be to ask them how they did the formatting for the front page.
-Isabella

10:35 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I never knew much about the Salem WItch Trials to begin with. However, after reading the newspapers I have learned a lot about one of America's biggest disasters. First of all I learned about the proceedings of court and how it was alike of different from the court proceedings of today. I learned how unfair some of the proceedings were back then. Spectral evidence was the biggest reason why the persecutions were so unjust. Spectral evidence is the use of visions or dreams that know one else can see but one person. Some people said it was the only way to decide whether someone was a witch or not. I also learned about the many chances there were to stop the trials and why it did not stop sooner. There were some people who started to doubt the accusations made by people. But these people did not share their beliefs as much as they should have because they would be accused of siding with the devil. The only people who could stop the trials were the people of high rank in the community but they believed everything they heard so they did not stop it until 20 people lay dead on Gallows Hill. Another thing I learned is why the trials started in the first place. A few girls had suspicious beliefs about there made Tituba. After that they became terribly ill and threw themselves into fits. The doctor had no idea about what was causing their pain but the devil's work. Soon the girls started accusing people nonstop.
I think a connection between the events at Salem and other events that happened during the colonial time were fear and hysteria. People came oner from Europe expecting a wonderful new life. Instead they were constantly tortured by the Native American population. This cause much panic because it was not what people were expecting. Fear and panic can lead to wars and many other terrible things. KIng Philips War and The Salem WItch Trials both had fear and panic mixed with them.
One question I have for the authors of the newspaper is what were the main steps you had to do to think of the topic and come up with a title and get onto the newspaper so it all made sense.
Ajay Period 1-2 Doyle

10:38 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What I have learned is that George Burroughs was one of the first reasons for doubt during the trials-- he recited the Lord's prayer at the gallows, which wwitches are not supposed to be able to do. Another sign at the time was that spectral evidence, or the evidence that only the accusers can see, against Sarah Good was found to be FALSE at the TIME OF HER TRIAL, and yet they hanged her anyway. Suspicion was also raised when Rebecca Nurse, one of the most esteemed members of the community, was accused, as well as John Proctor, who admittedly denounced the accusing girls.
Another thing I learned is that Governor Phips was elemental in the ending of the trials. When he returned to Salem he found that his wife had been accused of witchcraft, and it was then that he decided that things had gone too far. This says a lot of things about the Governer. It wasn't after someone he knew was accused that he called out the girls. However, he only ended the legalization of spectral evidence. He continued to try suspects in his new court, “The Superior Court of Judicature." Admittedly, this would be normal legally, as they had been accused and therefore should have been tried.
I also learned more about the Malleus Maleficarum, or the Hammer of Witches. It was a book published in 1486, and was vital when it came to the trials both in Salem and in continental Europe, as it convinced that public that witches were existent and dangerous. It was, in many ways, propaganda-- it stirred up public interest, and eventually became the standard witch hunting guidebook.
I did the project, and therefore it is slightly redundant to make connections-- however, I can list the concepts and main points which can be connected to. One-- a large question throughout the project was whether or not the witchtrials could have been prevented in any way. That led to how it could be prevented, and most importantly, whether it will happen again, which had to do with whether or not the girls truly believed what they were saying. Of course, it did happen again. It has happened in places such as Germany (the persecution of Jews, Communists, etc.) and America on many occasions (the imprisonments of Asian-Americans, and communists during the Cold War, and terrorists today). No one could come to any complete conclusion as to the first three questions, but the last one was quite certain. One last main point was how the trials began-- we came to the conclusion that the trials were the result of an accumulation of many bad factors. For one thing, Salem village was highly strict when it came to things such as entertainment-- there was none. Historians have come to the conclusion that boredom can actually drive a person mad, and the girls may have actually been so bored that they were hallucinating, and really believed in what they were doing. Another possibility on that note was ergot poisoning. Ergot is a corn fungus that the inhabitants of Salem village were most likely exposed to. Scientitst and doctors have said that the symptoms of ergot poisoning are identical to the ones that the girls exhibited. However, one of the girls confessed to "doing it all for sport," so it's still not set in stone, most definitely. An option that coincides with them not believing in their actions is that maybe they wanted the celebrity attention that came with being accusers. After all, there were no celebrities in Salem. Perhaps, after listening to the stories of Tituba, they saw their change and grabbed it by the throat.
Another bad condition in Salem was the fact that it was set right by a dark, ominous-looking forest. Its location was perfect for it to be vulnerable to Native American attacks, and some believed that the Devil himself resided there.
I have no questions for the authors/editors other than their opinions-- what did they think was the prime cause of the Salem witch trials? Do they think t hat the girls believed what they said? And do they think the trials could have been prevented?
Emi
Doyle period 1/2

5:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

From reading the 6th and 7th period Salem Witch Trails’ paper, I learned that there was also another theory why the 'afflicted girls' were behaving so odd. The Puritan Church was losing its control over people as merchants started to go only after the money. The people in the villages wanted to do away with the people of the town and the people in the town wanted the villagers away so that they could have their land. I was in the Salem Witch Trials morning newspaper, so I don’t have any connections other than the fact that I was doing the same topic. I have one Question for you, period 6/7 class; If you took a time machine and went back in time to relive the Witch Trials and you were accused, what would you do?

Ojus Doyle period 1/2

5:58 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here are three questions for anyone in general to answer:

How many of the twenty people executed were children?
How many of the twenty executed were women?
How many people were accused?

Lucy 6/7

6:31 PM  
Blogger Payton Doyle 6-7 said...

I read the period 6-7's "Salem Times". I looked through each section and read an article from each. The main article gave a description of what exactly happened. Something I didn't know was that Salem changed its name to Danvers in 1752. I Found that interesting because Salem Village and Salem Town were two different communities within the community. The people of Salem Town did the prosecution, and most all of the people accused were from Salem Village, namely, the poorer people of Salem. I also learned that the trials began because of three girls named Abigail Williams, Betty Parris, and Ann Putnam Jr.They complained of seeing the "witches spectres."They were also reported to be shouting in church, having prickling sensations on their bodies, and having hysterical fits. They were instrumental in the blaming of most of the first few witches. The other thing I learned was that Tituba, the slave of Reverend Samuel Parris, was the first person in Salem to confess to witchcraft. She told the court that a tall man from Boston visited her and showed her nine names in a book he had, supposedly the Devil’s book. Naturally, the people of Salem didn't like that, so she was imprisoned until later, the charges against her weren't found to be valid. She was released accordingly. I did the mural project. The mural my group and I painted depicted the story of Mary Rowlandson's captivity. Women were also treated as inferiors then. But, the thing I found most similar was the strict religious beliefs and moral rules. Even 55 years after King Phillip's war, people were still persecuting others over the same things. In Mary Rowlandson's time, the Native American's, and then, in Salem, the poor women who didn't believe EXACTLY what the church did. Religion seems to be used as an excuse to get something that is wanted or, in this case, to get rid of people who don't agree with the majority. I'm not saying that religion is only used for this, that's just what I observed. One question i have for the group as a whole is: why no specific accounts of a trial and conviction. Maybe some background information on the person and what happened afterwards?

6:47 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I learned that almost all of the suspected witches were accused guilty and almost none were proven innocent. Before i read some of this newspaper i knew about the salem witch trials but not that much. An example of something i didn't know before would be how they tried the accused witches and what the people of salem did in the aftermath of the trials. After reading about the trials i learned that they weren't fair at all. Also the same jury would try all the witches and they didn't let any of them go with out execution. Another thing i learned about was how salem changed there name and have a memorial for all the innocent lives.

A connection between the Salem trials and the Paxton Boys massacre is that in both cases innocent lives were taken. The Paxton Boys raided a small indian village and accused them for stealing recourses from them when it was another tribe that did it. In the salem witch trials the people that were accused of being witches and were killed unjustly.

I was impressed with all the articles that were written. Some questions i would like to know is what the process was in making all of the articles. Things like how they edited the articles and who put them in the paper. Another question i have is how long it took for the writers to get a finished article.

Nick
period 6/7

6:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

1. One thing I learned from reading through the newspaper is the Witch Trials were very unfair and biased. If the person who was accused of being a witch is a homeless person or someone in low status, there is a high chance they will be condemned because no one will defend them. This quote I found in “The Hysteria Begins” helped me understand how unfair the trials actually were, “People who were accused of being witches would be executed if they proclaimed their innocence; however, those who pled guilty would be sent to jail and would lose their property.” Another thing I learned is how seriously child’s play can be taken. All of this started because a couple little girls were being told stories by their slave about the supernatural. Sure they started having “fits”, but this was coming from two little girls. I also learned about how much the townspeople listened to the judges and didn’t think for themselves. I think this is very well explained by the cartoon made by Shaunak P. It shows the judge saying “Guilty... She just looks like a witch!”

2. The Salem Witch Trials are similar to the Anne Hutchinson Trial. The way I recognize the similarity is the biases within the judges. In the Witch Trials, they were biased against people with no supporters. In the Anne Hutchinson Trial, the judges were all men and had a strong biased toward men, and against Ann. These biases are different, but they are both had by judges. And in order to be a fair judge, you can not have biases, toward or against.

3. I have a question/suggestion for the Salem Witch Trials group. Why aren’t there any more cartoons than what there are? They are funny, and they gave information, too. They helped me answer some questions I had. I think if you had to do this again, I would advise you to make more cartoons.

Criss E. Doyle 6-7

7:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I thought the newspaper was very well designed, and included a lot of information as well, and I really enjoyed reading it, and also thought some of the ads were pretty funny!
One of the three things I learned about was how the court could tell if someone had done "witchcraft." One way for them was to make a certain cake, and if they didn't pass that, the "witches" would have to go through a pre-examination, which is finding out if there is enough information to prove that the "witch" should be convicted.
The second thing I learned was about a woman named Bridget Bishop. She was the first "witch" hanged in 1692 for witchcraft. She was often called the "odd one out" because her first two husbands strangely died, and always gossiped about her previous fights with them, and was "accused" of killing her neighbor, wore weird clothing, and became an infamous member of her community. She "tortured everyone's mind." But every time she got sent to court, she always came out innocent. Even in her last court visit she was innocent, but they hanged her anyway.
The last main thing I learned was how the Salem Witch Trials ended, in 1693. People stopped the Salem Witch trials mainly because it was getting out of hand. A lot of people lost their family and friends during all the previous trials, and a lot of people got tired of the term "witchcraft" and stopped believing it altogether. They thought it wasn't very practical, and it was just forcing torture that wasn't even true. So people started believing that witches never even existed, since there really wasn't enough proof. But the main reason was because people started taking advantage of it, and would always accuse people in the lower class because it would be harder for them to defend themselves. At the end of the Salem Witch Trials, all the accusers had to apologize, and were banned from Salem for all the innocent lives they took. They decided to change their name to show that they were starting all fresh.
I was in the mural group, and I thought a strong connection was rebellion. In the mural group, we studied about the colonists and the natives, and the natives eventually rebelled against the colonists because they felt they were being cheated. In the Salem Witch Trials, People eventually started rebelling to the courts because they finally realized that witchcraft isn't real.
One question for the designers is: How did you format the newspaper? It looks so nice! Which program did you use and how did you get it in such a newspaper like form?

Delnaz Period 6/7

11:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

When I started reading the paper I knew little about the event but I learned a lot. I learned some of the thoughts behind the cause of the trials. Like, the corn and grain poisoning even the stress from the wars that could have caused the visions and other symptoms. I even learned that the trials started because three out cased girls were accused of witchcraft and one girl said that she was a witch. These simple word brought about 20 people dead and two dogs. I even learned that most of the people accused were the poor people and sickly people of Salem.
My group worked on murals about colonial encounters and there are a lot of similarities about the two subjects. Both subjects are about two groups of people with different ideas. The difference is that in Salem the people are from the same place. This makes for an extremely different kind of disagreement.
Lastly my questions for the period 1-2 Salem newspaper class are:
• What do you think was the real cause of the trails was?
• How do you think that they could have been prevented?
• Do you think that they should have been prevented or was it an important event in our history?
Bailey period 1-2

9:51 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

1.I learned a lot about the Salem Witch Trials. One thing I learned from period 6/7 was that the Salem Witch Trials began in 1692.
2.Another thing that i learned was that to find out if a person was a witch was spectral evidence. Spectral Evidence was when a unfortunate event.
3. Something else that i did not know but learned from period 6/7 was touch test. Touch test was if the accused witch touches the cursed victim while having a fit, and then the fit stopped, which meant that she was a witch.
A connection between the Salem Witch Trials and the project I did was that many people were accused of being a witch when they really weren't. Anne Hutchinson was accused of teaching a wrong belief and was sent to trial and then banished when really she probably shouldn't have been banished because she stood up to what she believed in.
A question that I have about the salem witch trials is in the article of "stop the devil assistances. How to tell if someone is a witch", is if all of these test fail is that person still a witch?
lauren per 1-2

9:52 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Along with many other things, I learned two different ways used to determine if someone was a witch. One was to make a cake with urine from the accused person. They would give this cake to a dog, and if the dog showed symptoms of the accused person they person was a witch. They also believed that if the accused person could not recite the Lord’s Prayer that they were a witch. Another thing I learned was that babies were forced to wear clothing that made them sit up straight, in a grown up matter.

A connection between King Philip’s War and The Salem Witch Trials is the concept of ideas being carried on for a long time. The idea of someone being a witch did not die out very fast. The people of Salem continued to accuse and execute people. The idea of Indians or Natives being inferior, animals, and uncivilized also was carried on for a long time, and still is apparent today. Both of these ideas sound pretty horrible today. They are ideas of hatred and assumptions and ideas that are not accurate. The Europeans were the ones that actually were uncivilized if not because of their violent matter their lack of baths. The idea of witches just came up because of two little girls with odd stories of magic and witches in their heads. This shows that people believe in things that are not proven or because of their biases.

Here are three questions for anyone in general to answer:

How many of the twenty people executed were children?
How many of the twenty executed were women?
How many people were accused?

Lucy 6/7

10:19 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I learned a lot of new information in the Salem Witch-Trials newspaper. Did not know that the first person who was accused was Tobitha, a black slave. I found that interesting how most of the people who were first accused were people who were the most vulnerable in the Salem community, such as slaves, women, and people of the lower class. I also learned how fast the trials ended. I had thought that they went on for quite a while, many more people were convicted, and many more were put to death. The Salem community put it down relatively fast, as it only lasted one year. This is probably because of how fast people got more brave with their accusations, and someone eventually accused the governors wife. It also shows how much it mattered who was convicted, because in the beginning when people who were more vulnerable were accused like slaves and lower class women, the judges said they were guilty with much less evidence. The court was only set up when the governors wife was accused, which shows it mattered more who was being accused. I also didn't know that the people who were accusing others were mainly the girls, which I found interesting they that they would believe children on something like this, and especially girls given their society.
One connection between my project, the Anne Hutchinson documentary, was that both showed how much more seriously crimes are taken when they question the people in power. In the case of Anne Hutchinson, the reason the judges took her case so seriously was because she was challenging the ministers of the Puritan faith, who were also the ones in charge. In the Salem witch trials, the trials were only put to an end when someone accused the governors wife. This shows how dangerous challenging people in power can be.
My only question is how many of the accused people were women and how many women out of the total of people were executed?

Clyde
period 6/7

4:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

1.) I was in the newspaper for periods 6/7, but I learned a few things. 1.) That you don't always use spectral evidence in a trial and that you can ignore some spectral evidence. 2.) I didn't know that Increase Mather made a whole book about spectral evidence and why not to use it. 3.) I didn't know that ergot poison can cause all of spasms, seizures, itching, burning and crawling sensations on the skin, headaches, delusions, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and hallucinations. This is interesting, because I thought as ergot as more of just seeing things, rather than a larger issue with seizures and other things.
2.) I learned a lot from the other class' newspaper, because my report was on Governor Phips, who was a leader and wasn't ever convicted of witchcraft (although his wife was). I learned more about increase Mather who worked with Phips alot and other things that we worked on in class (e.g. the ergot). I think it was helpful to read other articles from another class' newspaper.
3.) Why weren't all the titles and pictures and words aligned in the periods 1/2 newspaper?

-Christopher K.
Periods 6/7

4:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was also in the Salem witch trials newspaper in period 1/2, so I already knew a lot about the Salem witch trials, especially Increase and Cotton Mather. However, I looked at the other newspaper and found some new information.
1. The procedure of accusing a witch was as follows; when someone was first suspected of being a witch, the accuser would complain to the local magistrate. Not much evidence was required during this complaint for the magistrate to believe them. The magistrate then issued an arrest warrant to authorities, which took the suspect into custody. Before the trials, a pre-trial examination took place. This examination was used to determine whether or not there was enough evidence to find the witch guilty. If there was, the witch was brought in front of a jury.
2.The trials ended because many people had lost friends and family during the trials, so they stopped accusing other people. They felt that innocent villagers were being accused, and that wasn't just. Others began to realize that much of the information that was used in court wasn't valid. They realized that confessions were being forced through torture. People also began doubting spectral evidence. They realized that spectral evidence wasn’t practical enough to prove that someone is a witch. The biggest reason for ending the trials was that accusations were being made against high-ranking people, and nobody believed them anymore.
3. After the trials the Salem villagers realized what the witch-hunt had caused. Innocent people were hanged, neighbors accused each other, and nobody trusted anyone else. They greatly regretted their actions. The judges and jurors of the Court of Oyer and Terminer (the court that tried witches) lost their status as villagers. The jurors were eventually forced to flee the village or apologize. In May of 1693, Governor Phips pardoned all accused “witches” currently in custody. In 1752 Salem was renamed Danvers to show that they were different people and they regretted their actions.
I studied Cotton and Increase Mather in the Salem Witch Trials project. They were pivotal in ending the use of spectral evidence, even though they don’t get much credit. In ending the use of spectral evidence, they almost finished the trials. The Mathers were ministers who preached to the community.
One question I would ask an author or designer of the newspaper is; did you learn anything about your topic that you weren’t expecting?

Jonathan Pd. 1/2

6:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I really learned about the Salem Witch Trials when I read a newspaper on them. There are many different events in the Salem Witch Trials. There were three girls named Abigail Williams, Betty Parris, and Ann Putnam Jr. These girls had strange behaviors. Nobody knows why but there have been some theories. These behaviors were hallucinations, shouting out in church, having fits, making strange sounds, and feeling as if they were being pricked and poked. One theory states that these girls had mental illnesses.These illnesses made the girls go crazy.
There was also a theory that the Salem Witch Trials had something to do with the church. Some people thought that there was a relationship between the Salem Witch Trials and the Puritan church. Since many people believed in this theory, people started to fear the Puritan church. Then, the Puritan church started losing power. Since this occurred, people started to care more about money and wealth more than the church.
Some scholars believed that the three girls with mental issues started the Salem Witch Trials with greed. These three girls were jealous about some of the possessions of the accused. Ann Putnam Jr. lived in a really greedy family. Ann's mom was really jealous about Rebecca Nurse because she had so many kids. Ann Putnam Jr. accused Rebecca Nurse. Also, Ann's dad was really greedy. He accused many people just to gain more land. A person turns out pretty spoiled in this kind of family.
You can also connect the information about the Salem Witch Trials with Colonial Encounters in American history. For example, King Philip's War started because of conflicts between the native American tribes and the colonists and some native tribes did not believe in Christianity. In the Salem Witch Trials, these three girls had conflicts with other people. A theory also states that these three girls might of caused the Salem Witch Trials. So the trial is kind of like the war in this connection. There were also conflicts between land during the Salem Witch Trials and King Philip's War. During the Salem Witch Trials, Ann Putnam Jr.'s dad would have conflicts for land. In and before King Philip's War, there were conflicts for land also. This was one of the main reasons why the war started.
I wonder, how did the designers format their newspaper?

6:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I realized after reading the Salem paper that the salem witch trials were in fact conected but also different to the later french and indian war. The french and indian war was fought long after the trials but had the same amount of hatred and brutallity.These two events in history involved the hangings of innocent villagers and in the F and I war Indians.The salem witch trials could be considered the biggest and most outrageous events to occur in colonial america. The two events in history are different because the F and I war ended with and led to more hatred. With the trials in the end most fear and hatred had dissapeared
The acussed were beaten into confessing and later hanged for a crime they never commited.
I am just glad villagers in Salem came to their wits about acusing people of being witches. I learned how appoligies came from all the accusers, and everyone realized their mistakes.
I was wondering were any of the accusers or judges punished for wrongdoing?
How many people were killed because of the trials?
Kyle
Doyle 6-7

7:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I learned that the Salem witch trials started in July 1692 and ended in September 1692. The Salem witch trials started when people wanted an explanation for “weird” people and how they acted. They were then accused of witchcraft; they were then hung. These people were not actually witches; they were normal people just like you. For my colonial project, I worked on the mural, about King Philip’s War. King Philip’s War was the most bloody American colonial war ever and the Salem witch trials were also deadly. I would like to ask Nikki, what type of source did you use, because I am wondering how much of it you made up?

noah per 1-2

7:17 PM  
Blogger Peggy Doyle said...

I am really impressed by the depth and thoughtfulness of the comments so far. I especially like that you are making connections across projects that are also relevant today.

Ms. Doyle

7:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was part of the SWT group, and Webmaster for the period 1/2 group, and already knew many things about the Witch Trials, but from reading the Salem Times, I learned a lot more. My individual article topic was the history of Salem before the trials, and I found many interesting parallels between my topic and how the hysteria begins.
I learned about many interesting things, like how people were tested to see if they were witches. I learned that these methods were very extravagant including making a cake with children's urine (which would then be fed to a dog) I learnt of how not only odd, but useless this method was. How would the behavior of the dog tell you anything?
I also learned that during the course of the witch trials even dogs were killed. Though it doesn't seem to be something very major, it's a great indicator of how carried away, and out of their minds the accusers and judges were --they executed two DOGS.
I learned that the girls would accuse either their enemies or enemies of the community. As the article said the reason why Tituba, Sarah Goode, and Sarah Osborne were such good targets, was because all three were from a low social class. This, along with the fact that Tituba practiced voodoo, Sarah Goode never went to church, and Sarah Osborne smoked a pipe, made them ample targets for the accusers.
I think that there are huge connections between the start of the trials and the history of Salem before the witch trials. One of these reasons is how willing people were to go after someone who doesn't go to church, practice the Puritan form of Christianity, or does anything frowned upon by Puritan beliefs. In Salem's early history there was even a position in government to catch people who skipped Church.

My question for the author is: Why do you think witch trials were started? What does he think the motive behind the accusers was?

Akhil R.
period 1-2

7:23 PM  
Anonymous William Doyle 6-7 said...

The three things that i learned in the SWT was one, the way the to judging work at that time period was very bad. It was bad in the sense that People could just complain to the magistrate and then the next thing you know your in the court room. I think that the magistrate should ask for some more detail because it said that the people accusing did not have to have lots of details. The seconded thing that i learned was that the people of Salem were not that smart. It took them way too long to find out that they are killing innocent people. I found that part to be very sad because it would sink to be falsely accused and i sounds like many people were. Third thing i learn was that the living in Salem at that time would have been very hard. The people are always accusing people for stuff and i would not want to live with that.

The SWT is like the murals because they are both showing us example of how to run a bad settlement. My Mural was on the Paxton boys massacre and in that the government did not give the Paxton boys protection and in the SWT the leaders did not make a good judging system. Also in both of the subjects there were innocent lives taken. In SWT people were falsely accused and in the Paxton boys massacre they killed lots of innocent Indians because they were mad!

The one question that i have for the class that did the news paper is, How well did the class work in only three weeks? Did that work or did you feel that you needed more time?

-William :)

7:49 PM  
Blogger Eliana :D said...

1. I learned that without women having roles in the societies, there wouldn't be much. The societies wouldn't be able to survive. There wouldn't be much food or clothes. There wouldn't be anyone to take care of the 8 to 15 kids in an average family. I learned that in the communities, the children went to school. However, while the boys were learning history, english, math, science and language, the girls were learning how to play music, dance, cook, sew and clean. Adults didn't want girls to learn what the boys learned, because they didn't want the girls to feel more powerful.
2. I studied Mary Rowlandson in the mural project. There aren't much similarities, but one similarity is that Rowlandson is extremely religious and is a Puritan. The people and Rowlandson share the same beliefs.
3. How did you post the different parts of the newspaper on the internet?
Eliana - Period 1/2

8:27 PM  
Blogger Benjiwitt9 said...

I read the period 6-7's "Salem Times". One thing I learned was that one sign to be a witch was called spectral evidence. Evidence that only the accusers can see. The accusers usually saw this evidence in dreams. This kind of evidence was strongly supported by William Stoughton. In October, 1692 spectral evidence was banned because it was not a practical of trying a witch.

Another thing I learned was that Salem Village and Salem Town were two different communities within the Salem. Usually the people of Salem Town did the prosecution, and usually the from Salem Village were accused. People from Salem Village were also much poorer than people from Salem Town.

Another thing I learned was that the Salem Witch Trials were biased and very unfair. If the person who was accused of being a witch is a homeless person or someone in low status, they were usually condemned because no one will defend them. In the article “The Hysteria Begins” one quote showed me how unfair these trials were. The quote was, “People who were accused of being witches would be executed if they proclaimed their innocence; however, those who pled guilty would be sent to jail and would lose their property.” Which pretty much says that if you are accused of being a witch you have no "good" option.

For Humanities Project my choice was Anne Hutchinson Video Documentary. I think the Salem Witch Trials were similar because in both of them people were prosecuted for unfairly. For the Salem Witch Trials "witch's" were prosecuted against on the slightest bit of evidence FROM the prosecutors thoughts. They were then put into jail and they lost all there property or they were put into jail and executed. Anne Hutchinson was accused of simply preaching what she believed in. And she was banished from Massachusetts under the pretense of her holding meetings/ preaching about what she believed in.

One question I had was: What makes someone a witch?




Benji
Doyle Humanities 6-7

8:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

When reading the period 6/7's the Salem times in learned a lot about how the witch trials happened. I didn't know a lot about the swt (Salem witch trials) previously so I learned a lot about what happened. For example I learned that in 1692 people in the town of Salem persecuted and killed 20 people for being a suspected “witch”. They had a specific court called the Court of Oyer and Terminer for dealing with the witch trials. In this court most of the evidence displayed was bad and would not be valid in a normal court.
For the mural group I did a mural on King Phillips war which was in 1975 and so way before the swt. one main topic that relates both things is rebellion. In king Phillips war the natives are rebelling against the colonist taking their land and people. And in the swt the people rebel against the witch trials when they find out it isn’t real and is based off of phantom evidence and random accusation.
One question for the authors, do you know why when Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba were accused of being witches, both Sarahs immediately denied it but Tituba admitted to being a which?

Charlie Period 6/7 Doyle

9:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was part of the 6/7 Salem Witch Trials group as well. Thus, I had some background info. on lots of the events in the newspaper. However, after rifling through the Period 1-2 newspaper, I found an article on Sarah and Dorcas Good that actually gave me a much deeper understanding of this horrible event.
From reading this article, I learned...
a) Dorcas Good WAS in fact spared after being imprisoned (and chained to her mother!). Her infant sister also died, in chains, as well as her mother, who was hung. This experience had a HUGE, scarring psychological impact on her. For the rest of her life, Dorcas apparently didn't speak again. I feel that in researching the Salem Witch Trials, we've learned so much about the impacts the trials had on people, yet we haven't explored as much the raw, emotional toll it must've taken on everyone: even those not accused.
b) Sarah Good, as I'd already learned, was reputedly consistently grouchy. However, she had an insanely hard life! No wonder she was grumpy!!! Her father committed suicide when Sarah was just seventeen. Her siblings and mother all got a portion of his money and estate, but Sarah didn't get anything because of her mother getting rapidly remarried. Things just couldn't get any worse when she married Daniel Poole, who died and left Good deep in debt. She married again, and had a daughter named Dorcas. However, to pay off her debts, she and her family were forced to sell off bits of their land until they were finally left homeless. Would you EXPECT someone in her situation to be GUNG-HO? Of course, her being poor led to her not going to church, because she "didn't have good enough clothing, and couldn't recite the psalms." Thus, she was accused...and eventually convicted.

c) "Their trials were a look into the accusers’ minds, as well-- the fact that they accused a child and put her through an event that left her literally speechless for the rest of her life either makes them heartless or truly insane," I quote from this article. This is entirely true. At some points in the trials, you could blame the decisions of the court or the accusing on paranoia and the like, but this case is extremely unsettling. Who would truly believe that a four-and-a-half-year old child, traumatized, and probably confused, could be a witch? This really says something about the absurdity, cruelty, and relentlessness of the Salem Witch Trials.
I certainly encountered such relentlessness in my researching George Burroughs. Although his situation is very different--Burroughs was an adult when accused, and quite possibly guilty of murdering his two late wives--the trial is in many ways similar. For one, both Dorcas Good and George Burroughs were unique in their accusations. That is, George Burroughs was a former minister of Salem. Dorcas Good was a four-and-a-half-year-old girl. Dorcas Good remained silent for the rest of her life; George Burroughs recited the Lord's Prayer and spoke convincingly about his innocence before being executed.
I'd be interested to know what newspaper(s) (if any) influenced the design of this newspaper (period 1-2's The New World Times). It's very understated and simple, but nice. Ours, on the other hand, is crammed with extras, ads, cartoons, articles, from top to bottom. Not to say this is necessarily a good or a bad thing.
Also, I'd just like to mention how EXTREMELY well-written and awesome this article was! GREAT JOB!
-Liza 6/7

9:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I learned a lot of facts about the Salem witch trials that I had not known before. One new thing I learned was the causes of the Salem witch trials. Different articles said different things. One article said that the trials were caused by Puritans feeling resentment and jealousy caused by the Native American raids. So the Puritans decided to take their anger out on witches. Another article said the Puritans started accusing people of witchcraft, because they were frightened that the Native Americans would raid their villages. They decided to blame witches. Another new fact that I learned was that witchcraft hadn’t started in the new world. I learned that witchcraft existed in Europe before the new world. I thought people being blamed for witchcraft started in the new world with the Salem witch trials. The first witchcraft accusations happened in 1400s all over Europe. Christians accused a rival religion Catharists of worshipping Satan. Many were accused of witchcraft and hung. The last new thing I learned is that the Puritans tortured the people that were being accused of witchcraft. I thought that they gave the accused a chance to speak and then gave the verdict. Instead the Puritans tortured the defendants so they would say what the Puritans wanted them to say. Most of the time when the accused admitted to being a witch, they admitted because they were tortured. The Salem witch trials directly relates to my research topic, King Phillip’s War. In the articles it says that King Phillip’s War and King William’s War helped cause the Salem witch trials. That means King Phillip’s War was almost a direct cause of the Salem witch trials. One question I have for the writers is, how badly were they pressed for time, did they get too little time, too much time, or just the right amount of time.
Andrew-Period 6-7

9:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

1,)I learned that in Salem toddlers wore clothing that had strings on them. The parents would grab the strings if the toddlers was in danger, like about to fall into a well or walk into a fire. I also learned that women were expected to act like snails to be an ideal wife. Quote: "An ideal wife is like a snail because a snail is creature that goes no further than it can carry its house on its head." End quote. And last but not least I learned that the bible first began denouncing witches in 560 BCE.
2,) Nick T.'s article The Hysteria Begins connects with my group article in many more ways than just the subject. Our subjects were the same but how we wrote our articles was very different. His article is very well written and provides information I wish I'd known at the time when me and my partner for the article were writing it. His article includes many lively quotes from the actual trials. I have a few quotes but none the same. I wish I'd known what resources he used during the writing and researching process. His article is longer and includes much more factual information and dates. Our articles are connected through their descriptive language, subject, and various other things.
3,) To the webmasters of The Salem Times. How did you get your layout so neat? Was it really hard? And how do you program HTML?

Simone
1-2

9:39 PM  
Anonymous Nigel said...

Nigel Doyle 6-7

I learned a few things from this newspaper (made by periods 1-2) that I would like to share. For one I learned that in the trials people used spectral evidence (evidence through visions or dreams) which gave the accusers an unfair advantage against the accused, because the accuser could just make up whatever they wanted and say that it was because of the accused being a witch. Another thing I learned was that the most of the accused “witches” were women disliked in the community. The witch trial may have just been a way to get enemies of the community out of the way. And another thing I learned is that the society had zero tolerance for even a suspected witch. In our society the defendant is innocent until proven guilty. But in Salem the defendant, in the minds of everyone else, were guilty until proven innocent (none of the accused were proven innocent though).

The project I did was the Anne Hutchinson Documentary. This was also about a trial, but not for one about witches. This was a trial about a difference in religious belief. But there are still some similarities between the two trials. For one, women were already low class citizens in the community, and the court was completely male dominated so the trials were completely unfair. The women were set up from the start. Another similarity is the fact that both charges were ridiculously religion-based. Anne was accused of heresy and the women in Salem were accused of being witches.
I have a question for the writer of Torture Behind the Trials, what did John Corwin do for a living?

Nigel Doyle 6-7

10:07 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I took part in the newspaper for period 6-7 so I learned a lot of things just because we did a lot of research and background summary readings before we began writing our articles but as I read period 1-2 I learned how the procedure went when under accusation of witchcraft. Before I began this project and before I read the summary of how the Salem Witch Trials began, the only knowledge i had of this tragic incident was that women and men were falsely accused and hanged for witchcraft. As I read this person's article I noticed that the procedure was very complicated. Although I did this article with my partner, I decided to read about Rebecca Nurse anyways and was surprised to learn more information about her especially when I realized that there was basically one girl behind the whole scheme of these false accusations. This girl was the one who made sure that the other girls accusations and statements did not contradict with her own. Even though I already learned a woman's usual jobs I also realized that although the men have all the power and claim all the "superior" work for themselves women do much more and I consider their work more superior because without them our society would be very unstable.
With very little knowledge of this topic, as I finished this project as well as read period 1-2's newspaper I learned not only what reasons the girls might have had for falsely accusing random people but also how this crisis ended.
I would like to ask the newspaper designers for period 1-2 why they formatted their newspaper in the way they did.
Tiffany Period 6-7 Doyle

10:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

1.) I learned that if you were accused of being a witch and you denied that you were a witch the jury would rule you guilty and you were hanged, but if you admitted that you were really a witch you would only lose your property. This method didn’t seem very logical considering many innocent lives were lost because they denied they were witches and it was the truth. While the “real witches” got away from the law officials. Something else I learned through The Salem Times is that you could tell if someone was a witch by baking a witch cake. To make a witch cake you mix and then bake the afflicted person’s urine with rye meal and feed it to a dog. The invisible particles the witch sent to afflict you is still in the afflicted person’s urine so the witch will be in pain when the dog consumes the cake. From there you can identify the witch. Another thing I learned is that the people accused of witchcraft were often the poor, lower class members of Salem because they were often ruled guilty by the jury because they had no one to defend them. These people usually denied being witch and were hanged, such as Sarah Good.
2.) A connection I found between the Salem Witch Trials and the Anne Hutchinson trial is that in both situations the Puritans aren’t accepting of anything against their beliefs. In Salem tracking down all the witches was a big deal because witchcraft was against the Puritan church. Anne Hutchinson was put on trial because she didn’t believe the church was teaching the true Covenant of Grace, so she started to teach people on her own and was later banished from the colony.
3.) One question I have for the group is: How did you make the online newspaper?

Katherine Z. 6-7

10:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I read the newspaper from period 6-7. There were several things that I learned when reading this. One of the things I learned is that there was a great immense amount of stress on the town of Salem. Salem was in conflict with the Indians and there was much hysteria. Another thing I learned was that before there was a full trial there was a pre-determining trial in which the accused was determined whether or not she was a witch. Another thing I learned was that there was a sort of persuasion factor taking effect on the two girls who were believed to be the ones who started the Salem Witch trials, the slave known as Tituba who told stories of witches and foul magic. In what I was studying when working on the documentary there was also and unfair predetermined trial. These both were quite unfair because in the Salem trials there was a predetermining session before the actual trial and the accused were of lower social class, and in the trial of Anne Hutchinson the judges were the prosecutors. I have one question those who studied the “spectral evidence” which is: what were the people who were being tormented by spirits seeing/hallucinating about?
Nicky woodruff
per 1-2

11:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The first thing I learned about the Salem Witch Trials is that it was hysteria. It all started with two young girls, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams in 1692. They urged their Indian slave, Tituba, to tell them stories of supernatural. One day Betty was very sick. She screamed, hallucinated and convulsed. The doctor could not find the explanation and believed devil was in her.
The second thing I learned about the trials is their legal system was incomplete and injustices. When a witch was first suspected, the accuser made a complaint to the magistrate. Little evidence was required. The suspect was arrested and tried in the Court of Oyer and Terminer by the jury. The use of “Spectral evidence” was accepted. For example, if the girls saw the spirit or shapes of people flying around and causing harm, those people were considered practicing witchcraft or working with devil. During the trials an accused person could choose to confess to or deny practicing witchcraft. If the accused person confessed, he or she would be released from jail and lose his or her property to the church. If the accused person denied, the jury would rule him or her guilty and throw him or her to the prison to await hanging.
The third thing I learned about the trials is that people with high social status were protected. During the beginning of the trials, people with low status were accused because it was hard for them to defend themselves. Later, the powerful and well-connected citizens such as wife of Governor Phips were accused. Doubts grew. Finally, Governor Phips banned the use of “Spectral evidence” as evidence in the court and ended the Court of Oyer and Terminer.
The connection between the events of Salem and the events I studied for the mural of Thanksgiving is the cruelty of human beings. The Salem Witch Trials reflected Salem people were killing innocent people out of peer pressure, bias and ignorant. On the other hand, the “Thanksgiving” misled the true relationships between the Pilgrims and the Indians. In fact, Pilgrims killed Indians, who had helped them survive in the harsh environment, for land and gold. Both events showed the evil nature of human beings.
My question for an author is what lessons did you learn from the Salem Witch Trials?

Becky Doyle 1/2

7:06 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

1. I learned that the trials were started by two girls. I never thought that little girls could have so much influence. I guess that when people are scared they don't think clearly. Otherwise they may have questioned the liability of the two girls.

2. The trails kind of reminded me of the trial of anne hutchinson by the way the odds were against them. In Anne's trial she was being accused of being a heretic. There was very little chance of her being found innocent and indeed she wasn't. In the trials it seemed the accused were going to be convicted over the silliest things. And they typically were.

3. to the author who told how the trials began,
Why do you think only one girl gave an apology, and an insincere one at that? I didn't know whether all the girls were convicting for one reason.

-Hazel 6/7

4:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Salem Witch Trials were a very interesting time. The people in Mr. Nekrosious's class did a very good job of writing about it. Some of the witch trials had to do with Anne Hutchinson's trial. First of all, the system of court was the same. The judges were also the prosecutors, and also often the accusers. And they were all men against a female witch! And second of all, they were both caused by religion. Anne Hutchinson went to trial because she spoke her beliefs about religion, and these witches are going to trial because puritans believed that anything supernatural not caused by god was bad, and any indication of those powers should be put to death. The newspaper taught me that in the trials, they were allowed to use a non-reliable form of evidence, spectral evidence. It is a form of evidence in which someone claims that the spirit of the accused witch was hurting them in some way, and later this could be used against the witch, even though it is not evidence seeing as it has no proof! I also learned that if the magistrate doesn't think that the accused is guilty, then they are set free. They are only sent to trial after the examination for moles, warts, birthmarks, anything unusual, etc. Another interesting thing that I learned about the trials was that if you admitted that you were a witch, then you may not be hanged, for you have cleansed your soul of the sins that you have committed.
I would like to ask the author of "Torture Behind the Trials" What was the chain of events that started with the kids acting mysterious and ended with the beginning of the Witch Trials? I didn't quite understand it completely from your article.
And one more bit of constructive criticism, why in "Religion's Impact on the Witch Trials" are there no paragraphs? And why are all of the articles all broken up, rather in newspaper form? Besides that, it is a great newspaper. Great Job 1/2!

Doyle Period 6/7

Alex

5:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I learned from the 6-7 news paper that they had conflicts with indians. I also learned about how they would handel bringing a "witch" to trial, and picking out a witch, they would pick someone that already didnt have the best reputation and had a low social status. I learned that when you are acussed of doing witch craft or being a wtich if you pleaded guilty you would be sent to jail and you would lose your land/property and if you didn't plead guilty you would be executed.
2) A connection between the salem witch trials and the Anne Hutchinson documentary is that people with a high status that belive in something different then people who may believe in witch craft or the covenent of works are looked down on, and then maybe executed. Another connection is if you belive in something diffrent then everybody else it is not ok and that is a big problem in both the salem witch trials and Anne H. trial.
3)my question for the 6-7 news paper group is what was the process of making the news paper?
Ariel period 6-7 Doyle

5:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

1.Cotton and Increase Mather were ministers who preached to the community.Also they were large contributors in the end of the use of spectral evidence in Salem, and they lived mostly in Boston, Massachusetts.
2. Some things between the Salem witch trials and the Paxton boys massacre that were similar were both were misguided events that led to treachery and killing. For example the Paxton boys didn't know they assumed that there allies were selling weapons to the Indians. And for the witch trials, well that was just a stupid belief that led to horrible and evil societies. Both were also around the same time in history.
3.Jonathan K. wrote: "His ideas, that can be found in his books, include the notion that the teacher should reward his students instead of punishing them and that the physician should study the state of mind of his patient as a probable cause of illness." but aren't nuns like really strict? And wasn't Cotton Mather technically a nun or priest because he spends his time preaching, studying, and devotes his life to prayer which is technically the same job description as a priest/nun.
-Hyder 6-7 Doyle

11:29 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Since I was in the morning group, I was assigned to read the afternoon paper. I learned that;
Answer to Question 1;
When posing a statement or fact, it is necessary to provide hard evidence that can be backed up with logical information that can be understood by everyone.Innocent people may be accused if substantial evidence is not provided. This wrong conviction can prove to be very detrimental to the community, as what happened to Rebecca Nurse; a very pious, kind and caring woman who was falsely accused and hanged. The consequence was the loss of a very good member of the society.
I also learned that evidence obtained through torture can’t be substantiated in the court of law.Forcing a confession through torture is not prudent, and the confession obtained may be invalid. When Tituba was tortured by Samuel Parris, she eventually confessed a lie so that she didn’t have to keep being tortured.
Finally, I learned that people may hidden motives which may be concealed from clear view.the accuser’s parents disliked various persons in the community for reasons other than witchcraft. They wanted revenge. An example; prior to Rebecca Nurse being accused of witchcraft; her family and the Putnam family had land disputes. Anne Putnam’s parents were heads of the Parris Community, which had disputes with the Nurse family. The Nurse family was the head of the Anti Parris Society. When Anne Putnam started to show symptoms of being possessed; her parents influenced her to accuse Rebecca nurse of witchcraft.

Answer to Question 2;
I found the some connections in the articles written by the morning group and the articles written by the afternoon group; most of the facts I found in both of the articles overlapped, and some of them were written on the same topic.

Answer to Question 3;
A question for anyone to answer to; Can you think of any times where the same thing has happened in the past after 1693?

Ojus Doyle period 1/2

11:08 PM  

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