Sunday, November 25, 2012

Salem Witch Trials Newspaper Project -- What Can You Learn?

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 (or, if you are in Mr. Nekrosius's project group, a connection between something you read and something you wrote for your own article.)
3. One question for an author or one of the designers of the newspapers.

(If you are in Mr. Nekrosius's project groups, you should post on the other class's newspaper.)

Please be constructive and detailed in your responses.  Be sure to put your FIRST name and class period on your post (please no last names).   This assignment is due by Thursday, November 29th. 

43 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Reading this newspaper I learned many new things about the Salem Which Trials that intrigue me to learn more. I found it very interesting that the war that the New Englanders were going through and the trials had influences by the vulnerability of this war still has a unseen affect on the trials today. This makes me realize the haunting fact is how we, like the new Englanders, are still partially trying to escape our culture as we still feel vulnerable as they did. Maybe we are on the same path as the Puritans. Though I was mainly interested in how the war and the religion influenced the hysteria, I read things on the people of salem and realized they were one of the key factors to this culture and how the hysteria started. It was a chain reaction of accusations and people started to turn on each other in their own community in the fear of their vulnerability. I was also intrigued by how the women were the most accused because they were the most vulnerable and how the whole culture was lead to believe this from the story of adam and Eve in the Bible. This made Puritans believe that women are more easily persuaded to follow the devil because they were weaker. In my article I wrote about how
religion impacted the Puritans life and their actions and how that lead to the hysteria. Now that I have heard other's ideas on the information they found, I can reflect on other's point's of view also to help better understand the Salem witch trials. A question for the web masters: Did you put the links on the newspaper to get to different subjects in any particular order? Why?
Elena Sparrow

6:46 PM  
Anonymous Sam R. said...

I learned that you would immediately be sent to court if you were accused of doing witchcraft and not be given a chance to object. Also, if you did not want to be held in court, but you would have to escape and run away from Salem Village. I also learned that the witches did not have much choice or say in their fate and that the Puritans were very cruel in this process. A connection I made was that the English were very cruel to the Pequot tribe during the Pequot war (1934-1938). However I wanted to ask one question to the newspaper authors. Where is the Bibliography to all your research?


Sam R
Mrs. Doyle
Period 5(-6)

3:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Henry S.
Doyle 1-2
Nov. 27.

I have learned from this newspaper that the people of Salem are hyper-paranoid, violent people who in some ways don’t abide by the word of the bible. A very well known quote from the bible is “Love thy neighbor as thyself” and it seems as if the people of Salem either haven’t read that verse or chose not to follow it. It seems almost like some kind of sick game in which the person who finds the most witches wins. I have personally learned that it is possible that all of this was caused by a fungus called ergot. This fungus infects wheat crops and cases massive hallucinations which could justify the spectral sightings. I have also learned that people will do almost anything to get the response out of people that they want. On the other hand people also tell lies so that people will hear what they want to hear. Tituba didn’t write her name down in the book of Lucifer, and if she did it wasn’t actually the book of the devil. She made this lie up so that she might have a better chance at living. I also learned about the instruments of torture that were used at that time. It is astounding to me the things that people did at that time in the name of god. The biggest connection between by project (the trial of Anne Hutchinson) and the Salem witch trials is the justification of killing in the name of god. Mary dyer was killed because she publicly spoke of her beliefs. The people justified this by talking about gods will and killed her. The same happens with tituba when she is killed. She supposedly had a pact with Lucifer and was killed for it. Countless wars were fought because of what people thought of god’s will, none of which were justifiably so. One question I have for all the people who wrote this and Mr. Nekrosius is, What do you know about the theory that all of the trials happened because of ergot poisoning?

4:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

In reading the class's newspapers, I learned a lot about the Salem witch trials. I learned that the judges during the trials were ruthless towards the accused people and would put them in jail just for looking like a witch. I also learned that the Court of Oyer and Terminatiors had very senseless ways of testing to see if a person is a witch. For example- ◦Water represents purity, a witch when tied to a chair will float when put in water, however, a non-witch will sink. (in which case, an innocent person will drown. While reading these newspapers I found out that many people died. Twenty-four people died during the trials. Nineteen people were hanged, four died in prison, and one was crushed to death by rocks. in reading the newspapers I made a connection, I realized that in both the Salem witch trials and the peqout war, a certain group of people were being decimated by another group of people that were killing people just because of their bias.
one question I have for one of these authors is- If someone confessed to being a witch, and the court found them not to be a witch, what would happen to them?

4:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I learned many important things about the Salem Witch Trials from reading the newspaper made by Mr. Nekrosius's group. I learned that spectral evidence was the main evidence used in accusing witches. This was problematic because spectral evidence often occurred in dreams and could not be verified. I also learned that the Salem Witch Trials were started by a few girls going into strange fits and accusing people of bewitching them. Many of the accused people were either put in jail or killed. Another thing I learned was that during the Salem Witch Trials, the people in Salem did not trust each other because anybody could be accused of being a witch. The Salem Witch Trials remind me of Anne Hutchinson's trial because they both had a big effect on the Puritan community after they were over. The Salem Witch Trials made people realize that they needed better evidence to convict someone. Anne Hutchinson's trial caused the eventual separation of church and state. Overall, the newspaper taught me a lot about what it was like to live during the Salem Witch Trials and also gave me insight into the similarities between the Salem Witch Trials and Anne Hutchinson's trial.

One question I have for an author of the newspaper is, "How long did it take to make one article (researching included)?"

Helena, Doyle period 1/2

6:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The article I read was “Slave Accused of Witchcraft” there was a lot to learn from this article. One think that I learned is that somebody could be accused so easily, you didn’t even have to have any evidence, you just had to report and they asked you a few questions and the person would get sent to prison. I think that the people who mostly got accused were people of lower class, also slaves. Another thing I learned from this article is that even children were accused and sent to prison so easily. Some of the time it would be the children of the people being accused, but sometimes its just because people think they are witches. Another think I learned was that if a person was being accused that it is possible that their spouse could be accused next, they are just making assumptions, for example, if she is being accused of witchcraft then her husband must be practicing witchcraft to. I don’t think that’s right. I think that there is ac connection between the events of Salem and some of the encounters with the colonist and the Indians. The colonists who were constantly accusing the Indians of things they might not have done. I think just because they think that the colonists are at higher ranking than the Indians that they can just make up assumptions and accuse them of things.
When exactly did this happen during the Salem witch trials?

Miranda
1-2
Doyle

6:48 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Annika B.
Period 5/6
11/27

I have learned about how serious religion is to the Puritans. They believed that if someone dared to go against the word of God, they deserved to go to jail, or even die. Their community was based around church, just like their lives. I learned why certain people were accused. If someone had a low status in town, they were an easy target for accusations. I also learned about the different types of magic. White magic is when one uses good luck charms. People use black magic when they intend to hurt and kill. In David R's article he says, "The trials of these women are influenced by their daily lives and, upon examining their tasks and chores, is turns out their lives are pretty grueling." This connects with my article because I wrote about what it is like to be accused of being a witch, and how their lives really are grueling. My question is for Madeleine W-S. How did everyone know that Elizabeth Parris had been exposed to the Devil's hand? Where did they get the idea?

8:40 PM  
Anonymous Sam R. said...


Salem Witch Trials Blog Post
The three things that I learned about the trials and the people of Salem are the following: 1. You would immediately be sent to court if you were accused of doing witchcraft. You not be given a chance to object because of the unjust trial system, you were very easily being accused with no legal evidence. 2. At that time, the society did not care when poor and defenseless people were accused. However, when rich and religious people started being accused, the people started to doubt the trial system. 3. Government and religion may not go very well together and should always be separated.

My project was the mural. It was about the Pequot War (1634-1638). In the Pequot War, many of the decisions made by the English were influenced by religion. For example: The English thought that they were doing God’s work by killing the Pequot’s. Like the Pequot War, the trial system in Salem was mostly influenced by religious beliefs.

My question for authors is, “What kind of resources did they use to put together this newspaper”?

Sam R
Mrs. Doyle
Period 5(-6)

9:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anna
Periods 1/2

I found the periods five and six newspaper (The New Englander) a very impressive newspaper. Although I was in the Salem Witch Trials Newspaper project group, I feel that I still learned a lot from reading several articles from this newspaper too. One huge thing that I learned from reading the article “Our Patriarchal Society-Women are Part of Salem Too” is that the reason it was largely women who were accused was mainly because of the story of Adam and Eve. Since, in the story, Eve is easily persuaded by the Devil to eat the apple that God tells her not to eat, women are seen to be weaker than men, and more likely to give in, and join the Devil. If this story had not been written, the people who were accused of witchcraft might have been extremely different. From reading “Puritan Perfectionism Predetermined the Hysteria” I learned that the hysteria was most likely brought on by the stress of the Puritan religion, Calvinism. Because they believed in the “elect”, the Puritans were always striving to be perfect, and prove to themselves that they were in the “elect”. Nobody knew if they were part of the “elect” or not, and nobody could change this, it was their fate. This brought on huge amounts of stress, and a continual strive for complete perfection. The Puritans looked at everything very closely, hoping that they would find a sign as to if they were in the “elect” or not. Had this not been part of the Puritan religion all of the hysteria that started the Salem Witch Trials could, and would, have been avoided. It was all brought on by stress. Another important idea that I learned, I learned from reading “Blamed, Chained, and Brutally Hanged: The Life of an Innocent Rebecca Nurse-Taken” is that not everybody who was accused and hanged was approved by society. In this case, Rebecca Nurse’s neighbors, friend, and many others created a petition against her accusation. Also, this article taught me how strongly spectral evidence was waited. Because of the circumstances and the petition, the jury declared Rebecca Nurse innocent, but several men demanded that they reconsider due to spectral evidence from the afflicted girls. After Rebecca Nurse was reconsidered she was declared guilty, and executed. This caused a big uproar in society, and made many people question the truth in the accusations. From reading The New Englander I have learned a ton about the Salem Witch Trials. I think this is essential to our current society, because we need to make sure that this kind of crisis does not happen today in our modern society. By learning about the past moments or months of crisis we can make a better future for America.

10:01 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anna (cont.)
Period 1/2


I can connect the ideas in “Puritan Perfectionism Predetermined the Hysteria” to the article I wrote. My article was about ergot poisoning, and how this might have caused the hysteria. Throughout my research I found many things about other possibilities that caused the hysteria, and even wrote about a few as counterarguments in my article. I never came across this one, but it is a definite possibility. I feel that I was better able to understand that article because of my previous understanding of the fact that it will never be known for sure what actually caused the hysteria. Comparing “Puritan Perfectionism Predetermined the Hysteria” to my article on ergot poisoning, it is obvious that different historians have completely different takes on what caused the hysteria. Ergot poisoning is a very scientific view, whereas the stress of not knowing whether you are in the “elect” or not is very spiritual and out there. Both of these possible causes seem completely plausible. In my opinion, the cause of hysteria was probably a combination of both. It started off with ergot poisoning, but then the more spiritual reasons drove it out of control. I feel that my article and “Puritan Perfectionism Predetermined the Hysteria” are closely connected and just speculations on what the cause of the hysteria was. People living in modern societies need to realize that we are never going to know what actually started the hysteria; all we have are different speculations.

If I could ask one author of this newspaper a question I would want to ask Lily this:
Do you know of any research, a historian’s take, or, just in your opinion, was Rebecca Nurse finally declared guilty because she had been sick, therefore making her weaker?
Your article discusses the fact that because of the story of Adam and Eve, women were perceived as weak when it came to refusing the Devil, could Rebecca Nurse’s sickness (and consequently weaker) played a part in her execution because of that perception?
I think that learning about the Salem Witch Trials is vital to our future. We need to know what kinds of crises happened in our past to help our future blossom. From reading The New Englander I learned a ton about the Salem Witch Trials, and many different aspects of the event. I thought that the periods five and six newspaper was very well done, and contained a lot of information.

10:02 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

David A
Doyle 5-6

I learned that Tituba was a slave from the West Indies who was bought by Reverend Samuel Parris. I also learned that when Tituba was teaching the girls “witchcraft” everyone else thought that the girls were learning housekeeping skills. Also, I learned that Tituba knew how to make your hair curl, catch a boy’s fancy and could read palms. When the girls started acting bewitched, Tituba felt awful and made special meals for Elizabeth Parris, one of the girls in the club.

A connection I made between my work with the Mathers on my article and Tituba is that Cotton housed one of the bewitched girls. Also, Increase Mather was almost accused by some of the girls of Salem. Also, Cotton led the research in vaccines, because he researched un-godly medicine, he was almost accused of witchcraft.

I would like to ask the Web Masters for the 1-2 project a question. How do you get the tabs to scroll down and how do you get related articles on the side? I design websites and I want to know how to do that.

10:19 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Meghan B.
Doyle 1-2

Before reading this newspaper I did not know much about the Salem Witch trials. The first thing I learned was that, if you were accused to be a witch, you would be tied to a chair, and thrown in water, if you sunk you were not a witch, because you were pure, but if you floated, you were a witch. If you were found guilty of practicing witchcraft, you would be killed. The second think I learned was that they believed in something called the devils book. People believed that when you became a witch, you would sign the devils book. After you became a witch you would not attend church as much as you normally would. An example of this was Sarah Osbourne. She was killed because she was not attending church, and she was found guilty of practicing witchcraft. A connection is that they have very strong religious beliefs. Most people were puritains, and they believed very strongly in attending church on a regular basis. In one article, written by Nora, she mentioned that people would try to be the “perfect puritain” in order to avoid being accused of practicing witchcraft. I was wondering what she means by “perfect purtain”.

10:39 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...



1. The trials started with a couple a girls learning about black magic and voodoo. The reverend’s native slave was teaching the girls (Elizabeth and Abigail) Soon the stories spread and everyone knew about them, Some girls were acting like a witch was torturing then and throwing “fits”. There were different theories as to how it started such as, fungus and wheat. Some girls were accused of being witches. Two of the girls denied being witches, but one of them (Tituba) confessed to being a which and said that the devil asked her to sign his book. There were 9 other names in the book and that is how it started.
Puritans who came from England created Salem in the 1630’s. They came because England was not religiously tolerant. They named the town Salem because in the bible Salem means “The holy city of Jerusalem”.
Though many people were accused and killed because of witchcraft one woman, Mary Bliss, was one of the few who was lucky enough not to be executed. She was involved in the witch trials in the 1670’s. The rumors that she was a witch started after her family’s trading business became very successful and she was one of the wealthiest people in the town. People said that the result of her success was because she was working with the devil. During the trial she was searched for “witch marks” and they found none. It was decided that this was beyond the Magistrate’s jurisdiction so they sent the case to court of Assistants in Boston. She stayed in jail for two moths while awaiting her trial. On May 13th 1675 Mary was found not guilty of witchcraft. The Parson’s did not move back because even after she was found not guilty the town did not believe so. She went on to live almost 30 years more.
2. The Salem witch trials connect to Anne Hutchinson in many ways. Anne Hutchinson was arrested because “she has in so many ways troubled the church”. The Salem witch trials troubled the church in many ways. Some of the cases were similar to Anne Hutchinson. Both Anne Hutchinson’s and Mary bliss’s husbands were both very faithful and never leaving their sides. They both lost children, so in many ways were similar.

3.Did most of the trials begin with rumors? Why would they believe such rumors?
Megan Moran
Period 5-6

10:44 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tituba was a "slave" of Samuel Parris, who basically took her because his wife was very sick and was close to the end, and he needed the help. Tituba was born in Arawak village in South America. She was captured and taken to Barbados when she was little. Voodoo was established in Barbados. Voodoo was a certain type of magic that Tituba performed. She also performed Black Magic.

10:44 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sonny
11/26/12
pd 5-6

After reading the Salem witch trials newspapers I learned that (1) The people of Salem thought that women were considered weaker then men and less likely to resist the Devil.(2)Indians were viewed as Devil worshippers and witches were Devil servants.(3)If you wanted to join the Devil then you signed something called the Devil book.
The Salem witch trials connected with the Puritans because at the time the Puritans believed in an invisible world besides the one that was visible. The Puritans were losing the war against the Indians at the time which was the war with the Devil in the visible world. And this made them even more willing to kill witches, which was the war in the invisible world.
My question for all the authors is how long the process was and where did they get their information?

11:59 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I read the article "Women Outnumber Men In Salem Witchcraft Accusations" In this article I learned that, women were accused much more then men were. This is because they thought if a women were disobeying there husband it was because of the devil. They believed this because of the story Adam and Eve in the bible. This was just like how Anne Hutchinson was accused. They accused her because she believed different things then they were "supposed" to believe. My question for the web designers is: What made you not have each article under the main headings?
Miranda
period 5-6
11/28/12

4:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Reading the newspaper (The New Englander) I learned many knew things. I learned that Tituba actually turned herself in as a witch. Tituba told the court that she saw the Devil’s book and had to sign with her blood. Tituba also said that she saw 9 other names. I also learned that women had a better chance of being named a witch. They were more likely to be named a witch because of their low status in Salem and in the story of Adam and Ever from the bible. People believed that God made women below men and the women were “instruments of the Devil.” And lastly, that in Salem men had more say over everything. Women could not participate in the decisions of authority. Women could not participate in many activities that were popular amongst men. This could be another reason for why women were more commonly convicted of being a witch.
The people involved in the Salem Witch Trials were very much like the Puritans because both governments gave very harsh rules to regain order in their town. The Salem Witch Trial people would keep people in jail for a long time ore execute a victim so that they could get rid of the “black magic” that was in the town. The Puritans executed many people (including Mary Dyer) who disagreed with the preaching of the bible. They executed those people to stop protests and arguments in their colony. Bothe the people involved in the Salem Witch Trials and the Puritans gave harsh punishments in order to gain order in their town.
My question: Did Salem have any problems with people who did not believe in their ways of preaching the bible (like Anne Hutchinson)? If so, how did the Puritans of Salem deal with the situation?
Anna P.
Doyle 5-6

4:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Elbert
11-28-12
Doyle 1/2
1. I learned that there were two ways to escape execution. Confessing could save your life, but so could pregnancy. If you were a convicted pregnant woman, they could not execute you for doing so would kill the unborn child, who may still be innocent. The farmers of Salem Village are wealthy and considered good people, which is strange as farmers are generally on the lower end of society. Another thing is witches are not considered followers of Satan, but actually followers of Lucifer despite the fact that Satan is accused for most bad things happening.
2. My article was quite different from the article on Giles Corey from the 5/6 period. The 5/6 article said that the jailors stuck his tongue out of his mouth so that it would be chopped off, and that one of Corey’s friends pushed it back in. My sources tell me that it was in fact the weight that forced his tongue out, and the sheriff pushed it back in with his stick. Also, the article didn’t mention anything about Giles Corey’s bad past, or how he seemed to change for the better. The article also didn’t mention Giles Corey’s wife, Martha Corey at all. However, it emphasized the gruesome things and how Giles Corey changed the Salem Witch Trials, which were the reasons why he was important. My article and this one had the same big idea with different supporting facts, and you’d need to read both to get the whole picture.
3. Why did all of the full articles of one subject go on the same page (instead of the first sentence and then a link)?

4:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

In the article "Guilty until proven innocent" I learned that most of the woman who were accused of being witches didn't have men to defend them. This made the women easier to accuse. For instance when Sarah Good was accused even her husband accused her for being a witch, as well as Sarah Osborne whose husband had died and had gotten in trouble for living with another man . The second thing I learned in the article was that not only people of a lower class were accused but those of a higher class as well. Martha Corey, a well respected woman who took church seriously was accused for being very opinionated. Throughout the year the girls who had gone around accusing people had called out on people like magistrates, merchants, and the wife of the Governor (Lady Phipps). Near the end of the article I learned that as the girls called out on more and more people especially those of a higher class the trials and accusations went down. This was because after the higher class had been accused spectral evidence or evidence that was used against the accused, was banished. Some of the common things between the Salem witch trials and the trial of Anne Hutchinson are that both the trials were held by men and men only. I would like to ask the author about the differences between the Salem witch trials and the witch trials of the other colonies.

Rachel S.
Humanities 5-6
11/28/12

5:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

1.Tituba was a slave in Salem, and one of her jobs was to watch over the Reverend’s daughter and niece when the Reverend went out at night. Tituba performed black magic and voodoo, two types of “witchcraft”. Tituba often told stories to the girls about witchcraft and magic. After a while, more and more children came to hear Tituba’s stories. The girls started coming to listen to Tituba’s stories every night when the Reverend went out. After a while, when the Reverend would preach in the church, when he spoke of god the girls covered their ears and screamed. The girls all started doing weird things like acting like animals, and pointing at things in thin air claiming there is something there. The Reverend had many doctors come to diagnose Elizabeth and Abigail. After many non-conclusive results, finally a doctor said that the girls were under the hand of the devil and when they had their unusual fits they were trying not to become witches. In one fit, one of the girls mentioned Tituba’s name. They had found their first witch. Tituba denied being a witch, and was beat until she confessed.
Salem was founded in 1626 by a man named Roger Conant. Salem was founded only by men, so women were not allowed to participate in town meetings or participate in decision making. Women were thought to be only there to serve men, and are more likely to join the devil. Some believed that since women weren’t allowed to preach in Salem, they would go to the devil so that he could preach for them.
The children in Salem were subjected to the same strict rules as the adults. The children weren’t allowed to play games, or have toys. The only holiday the Puritans allowed the children to celebrate are about the harvest and Thanksgiving. Young boys are expected to get a job and are let outside to hunt and fish. But young girls, are made to stay inside and cook stew.
2.John Endicott led a group to Salem in 1628 and joined the founder Roger Conant. John Endicott was also one of the judges in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during Anne Hutchinson’s trial in 1637. John Endicott was an important character in both stories. He was a big ruler in both colonies, and a very well respected leader.
3.When did the witch trials end? Who helped stop them from happening?
Michael Rubin
Humanities 5/6

5:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

From reading the articles on the Salem Witch Trials, I have learned a lot, even after having studied these witch trials. One of the people I learned most about was John Proctor. Before reading the articles in the newspaper, I hadn’t known that Rebecca Nurse was Proctor’s sister-in-law. I hadn’t known that Proctor’s own servant turned against him, and accused him of witchcraft. I also hadn’t known about the letter Proctor wrote to Increase and Cotton Mather. I was also very surprised to learn that only one of the “afflicted girls”—Ann Putnam — apologized for what they did. All of the other girls who took part in accusing changed their names and moved away from Salem. Another interesting piece of information I found was on Giles Cory. I had already known that he was pressed to death under rocks, but I hadn’t known that he had committed murder. This changed my view on Cory and his trials.
I found many similarities between the article “Guilty Until Proven Innocent,” and the article I wrote for the newspaper. We both included that some that were accused of witchcraft were put to trial merely because they did not attend church. In both articles, we pointed out that the accusations began with those of lower status in the community, then went on to citizens of high status.
My question to the authors of the articles for the Salem Witch Trials Newspaper is; how much research did you collect for each of your articles? What was your experience like writing a group article?

Olivia Issa
Period 5/6

5:48 PM  
Blogger pup88888 said...

Before i read this newspaper i did not think that the people back then, took the Witch trials so seriously, as they did. Even children would claim one was a witch and people believed them. Sometimes when people were accused of being a witch, they were not even given a fair trial. For example, a slave women named Tituba was accused of being a witch, and since she didn't say anything they didn't give her a fair choice. Her choice was either be hanged, or burned at the stake. All of this craziness started when two girls accused a slave lady of being a witch. The Salem witch trials relate to the first Thanksgiving because, just like the Natives and the Pilgrims, the "witches" and the other citizens didn't trust each other. Additionally, the citizens and the Pilgrims saw the "witches" and the Natives, as monsters. I wanted to know if there was any specific information about what kind of stories Tituba was telling to the children.

Paryssa
11/28/12
Doyle

5:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lily Levitt
11/27
pd.5-6
1] By reading pd. 1-2’s newspaper I learned a lot. I learned about Giles Corey and how his death affected The Salem Witch Trials in 1692, and how it affects people today. Giles Corey was pressed to death on the 19 of September 1692. He was killed for refusing to enter the plea for innocent or guilty. He was accused of witchcraft, and past accusations of theft and hurting people didn’t help him to be released of all charges. Corey was also accused of burning down Proctors house. Giles Corey withstood two days of pressing; the last words he uttered were “More weight.”

2] I also learned about how The Salem Witch Trials began. It started in the late months of 1691, when Reverend Samuel Parris’s daughter, Elizabeth, started to act strangely. With the help of many doctors, Parris soon decided that Elizabeth was under a witches spell. Soon, many other girls started to act out. Tituba, who was the Parris’s family’s slave/maid, was accused of witchcraft because she had been telling the “afflicted girls” stories of dark magic and voodoo. Tituba was of color, and had a very low status in the Puritan society. The next Sunday after Tituba was accused, the “afflicted” girls accused Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good of witchcraft. The girls accused these two people after acting out at church. It was as if someone had lit a match to The Salem Witch Trials because soon people were accusing random people of witchcraft, even the most beloved people to the community.

3] I also learned about a slave named Tituba, who was the first to be accused of witchcraft in Salem in 1692. Tituba was born in an Arawak village in South America in 1674. She was captured and taken to America. From age twelve worked for the Parris family. In 1680 another man named John started working for the Parris family. When the Parris family moved to Salem in 1690, Tituba and John got married. They had one child named Violet. Because Tituba was from Arawak, she continued to live by their customs. But without really knowing, she had somehow contributed to the start of The Salem Witch Trials, by telling stories of voodoo to Samuel Parris’s daughter and a group of her friends. These girls must have been afraid or confused about what the stories meant, because Tituba was accused soon after she had begun telling the stories.

6:10 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I learned that the Salem Witch Trials started with Elizabeth Parris, Abigail Williams, and a Native American slave named Tituba. I learned that Tituba was telling stories of black magic to the two girls and that she tell fortunes. Other girls heard about the stories and acted as they were bewitched. I learned that Tituba denied being a witch, but after she was beaten by the Reverend beat her until she confessed. She then told a story about how four women came to her the night before and asked her to hurt the children she was doing witchcraft. I learned that Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams were also the Reverend's daughter and niece. I learned that during the time, if a person was stabbed and bled, then they were a normal person, but if they didn't bleed, they were a witch. I learned that if you were a accused of doing witchcraft, you would be sent to the court. I also learned that King William's war started with tensions between New Englanders and Iroquois Confederacy and New France and Wabanaki Confederacy, who were both the New Englanders allies. I learned that the New Englanders and New France then were at war. In the Anne Hutchinson trial and the Salem Which Trial, both Anne and Tituba both troubled the court. My question for those who researched is how hard was it to find information about you subject?
Horace

Period5/6

6:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

While reading the newspapers I learned about Tituba, how she was a slave in the west Indies, and taken by Reverend Samuel Parris, and how she was thought to teach girls housework but was really teaching them "witchcraft". I also learned about how the vast majority of accused withces were woman, and about how when Salem got its first church in 1671, not going was considered a sin and made illigal.
The Salem Whitch Trials were connected to the early Pilgrim encounters because, since the ideas of whitchcraft started in English churches, the Pilgrims brought over the ideas when they settled in Plymouth.
A question I have for the writers is, what would happen if someone were accused of being a whitch, but found innocent? Would they just be set free?
David P.
Doyle 5-6

6:34 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Giulia
Humanities 1-2
11/27/12

1 learned that in Europe between the years 1550 and 1650 about 60,000 so called witches were tried and executed.
There were men who were accused of being wizards, even though women were seen as weak and more likely to be taken over by the Devil.
The most probable cause of the hysteria was a poison called ergot.
2)
My connection is between the Salem witch trials and the mural project. It is that in both the colonists were living in fear and distrust, which was increased by what they believed about god, which was that only a select group (the elect) were chosen by god to go to heaven. In Plymouth the colonists were afraid of god and also afraid of the natives, who were at the time burning and destroying villages and killing many men, women and children. In Salem colonists were afraid of the imaginary witches in their community. They were also afraid of being accused of being a witch and then being executed.

3)
My Question is, did the witch hunts, trials, and executions in Europe affect what happened in Salem?

6:40 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Salem witch trials are a very scary time in history. By looking at Mr. Nekrosius's classes' newspapers, anybody can find a lot of information on the trials. One thing I learned about was the Devil's book and the "witches". The people of Salem believed that the devil would come up to the so-called "witch" and ask them to sign his book. This is what made that person a witch. An example of someone being accused of witchcraft is a slave named Tituba. When the kids of the house that Tituba worked in were small, she would tell them stories about magic, fortune telling, and spirits. But soon the kids would "fall into random fits of hysterics". Tituba was blamed. She was carried off to prison and soon put on trial. At the trial, the judge, Samuel Sewall, asked Tituba if she was a witch. When she denied, they beat her until she confessed. This happened to many other women, in fact, hundreds and hundreds of women were accused of witchcraft.
Another fact about the witch trials I learned about was how this period of distrust was started. It all started in 1692,because of two girls named Abigail Williams and Betty Parris. These girls happened to be the kids Tituba was telling the stories to. The girls wanted to keep Tituba's stories a secret, because they did not want their parents to find out. But as the secret spread, more and more girls came to listen. Once the girls started throwing the fits described above, they were brought to a doctor. The doctor concluded that these fits were caused by the devil. This began the witch-hunt.
One other fact I learned about the trials was the about court procedures. When the court was made, it was separated from the church. This was done because the church is holy, not a place for the devil. I learned about the procedure of the court, this is how it is put in the newspaper-"The court follows a specific procedure. First, an afflicted person goes to the magistrates, and accuses another of witchcraft. The magistrate then has the accused witch arrested. The suspected witch is inspected thoroughly by a couple magistrates. If the magistrates believe that the person is guilty, the accused person is sent back to jail and awaits another examination and trial." If the person is accused of being guilty at the trial, a date is set for the person's death sentence.
For my project, I did the first thanksgiving. The two events are very different from each other. But one part in both events is alike. In both stories, the people are very religious. Both groups are very devoted to Christianity.
One question (or two) I have for the authors is: How did you figure out who writes what in your group? Or did you just work on it together?
Kelly Slimmon
Doyle
Period 1/2

6:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I learned many things from the newspaper I read. I learned that the whole "accusing" event happened because two little girls accused their father's servant of being a witch. I also learned that anyone (mostly women) could be accused of wichcraft and that if you were accused, there would be very little you could do in your defense other than admit that you were a witch. However if you did not admit to being a witch, you would be beaten or even hung.

Although everything the puritans did was harsh and unfair, they got the idea that women were mostly witches because of the story of Adam and Eve, where Eve eats the forbidden fruit because a snake persuades her. The salem witch trials have caused the "evolution" of the community of salem to be disturbted because what the puritans did was ridiculous. They actually believed two little girls and started accusing others. The poor slave was not even doing anything but telling the two girls stories and making non traditional medicine. Even when women did confess about being a witch, the confession was a lie. Nobody was, is or ever will be a witch. The women only said that they were witches to save their lives and not get beaten up. However after the confession they were either hanged or burned on a wooden stake. The salem witch trials have a very strong connection with the trial of Anne Hutchinson, because both the people of salem and Anne Hutchinson were accused because they were different or had different ideas (the puritans wanted everyone to be the same so they did not like people with different ideas, even if those ideas were very good ones). Another thing that connects the salem witch trials and the trial of Anne Hutchinson is that both the people of salem and people like Anne Hutchinson were killed or banished in the name of GOD.

If there was one thing that I would like to ask the web masters it would be : is there any way to prove yourself innocent when you are accused?
Arjun Dhar per 2 PEGGY DOYLE.

6:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sageus
Humanities 1-2

In all of the things I learned in ‘The New Englander’ the following are by far the most intriguing. First and foremost I greatly enjoyed the first article and how the writers add stories told by the witch (Tituba). The article also had a fun introduction sentence; ‘“You put the egg white in the water, and let it sink. If you do this right, you will be able to see the face of your future husband”’ The second thing that caught my eye was ‘A Not So Happy Ending’ it was a good story although quite brutal. I liked the facts that this story put forth, many of which were interesting such as, “The girls who were accusing people were starting to call people witches that were really great people, ones who would never be thought of as devils.” In that sentence they portrayed ther opion fact and they did it rather nicely. And finally my third favorite was the comic under the Editorials link it was very well done. One of my favorite things about this comic was the first scene where the "witch" was being hanged and how the artist depicted the tears and the reaction. When I looked through the newspaper I found many signs of violence and this reminded me of the gore in the story of Anne Hutchinson. I found that in both the people/government (people= trials gov.= Anne) did not tolerate an "different" people and both tried to have everyone believe and be the same thing. I came up with a VERY general question: What was the coolest most interesting thing you learned in all your studies of the trail?

6:55 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Three things that I learned about Salem and the Salem witch trial are some ways of torturing people, things about children, and food that people ate. I also learned that people who lived in Salem had something in common with the Pilgrims I leaned about. A way that people tortured people who would not confess to doing witchcraft was with Bootikens. They were boots that went from the ankle to the knee and were used for breaking bones of people. Another way of torture was Strappado. That was when someone’s wrists were tied behind their back and then pulled up and then were dropped down until the person’s shoulders were dislocated. Another thing that I learned was some things about the children. Boys got jobs outside of the house while girls did jobs inside the house that didn’t involve as much labor as the boys jobs. Girl and Boys wore vests until they were old enough to start wearing different clothes. Boys and girls wore simple clothes. Boys wore linen shirts with long coats and girls wore layered skirts. Another think I learned is what people at as food in Salem. Children ate porridge for breakfast. For dinner people also ate bread a much of pudding. One thing that the Puritans and the Pilgrims had in common was that they were very detocated to their religion. The Puritans wanted to have every child be able to read the bible. They didn’t want to live in the same town as people who didn’t share their religion. The Pilgrims moved to the New World and left behind people they loved so that they could be the religion they wanted without being hurt. They even wanted to convert all of the Natives that they lived with into Christians to the point when the Natives started war with them because they were taking their lives over too much. A question I have is why did people stay in Salem if so many people were being convicted of witchcraft, even it they were risking their lives staying?

Clara
Doyle 5-6

7:28 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

In the article "Guilty until proven innocent" I learned that most of the woman who were accused of being witches didn't have men to defend them. This made the women easier to accuse. For instance when Sarah Good was accused even her husband accused her for being a witch, as well as Sarah Osborne whose husband had died and had gotten in trouble for living with another man . The second thing I learned in the article was that not only people of a lower class were accused but those of a higher class as well. Martha Corey, a well respected woman who took church seriously was accused for being very opinionated. Throughout the year the girls who had gone around accusing people had called out on people like magistrates, merchants, and the wife of the Governor (Lady Phipps). Near the end of the article I learned that as the girls called out on more and more people especially those of a higher class the trials and accusations went down. This was because after the higher class had been accused spectral evidence or evidence that was used against the accused, was banished. Some of the common things between the Salem witch trials and the trial of Anne Hutchinson are that both the trials were held by men and men only. I would like to ask the author about the differences between the Salem witch trials and the witch trials of the other colonies.

Rachel S.
Humanities 5-6
11/28/12

7:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

1. I learned a lot of interesting things about the Salem Witch Trials. All of the so called "witches" were wrongly accused with no evidence other than the couple things that they all had in common: they either didn't go to church, or had a mix raced child or a miscarriage. The women accused were mainly older women, and the accusations were ridiculous and fake. They were not given a chance to defend themselves.
2. A connection between the Anne Hutchinson project and the Salem Witch Trials would be that Anne and the "witches" were both not able to defend themselves, or in the Salem Witch Trials, no chance at all. Anne Hutchinson was given an unfair trial, as all of her judges had biases toward banishing her for teaching people things they did not believe in. The so called witches were given no chance at all, so they were simply killed.
3. A question for Florence Almeda, the author of the article I read. How many people were killed in the Salem Witch Trials, and what is the pattern you mentioned in your article?

Ilana Weisbach
Humanities 5-6
Ms. Doyle

8:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

1. I learned many things from Miles L-G’s article about Tituba. I learned that people in the New England community acted very paranoid to anybody who might disrupt the harmony of the community. They were so paranoid that they ended up disrupting the harmony of the community themselves. They were a community that wanted to become a utopia, but became a dystopia in the process. Also, I learned that people put trust in people they should not have. People trusted Betty and Abigail, who claimed that the reason the said weird things in church was because they had been enchanted by Tituba, who they claimed was a witch. They did not trust Tituba, even though she was completely innocent and was not in any way witchlike. Why trust two people who say random things in church instead of a perfectly logical, clearly innocent person. This leads to the final thing I learned. I learned that social status played a huge part in New England communities. Abigail and Betty were trusted because they were normal Puritans, while Tituba was not trusted because she was a slave. This explains why Tituba was convicted when she was obviously innocent.
2. Both the Salem Witch Trials and the trial of Anne Hutchinson showed clear signs of injustice and distrust. The Witch Trials were not just because all of the “witches” were innocent, and were falsely accused and convicted. The same thing happened to Anne Hutchinson. She disagreed slightly with what the ministers were preaching and held meetings in her house about the sermons that the ministers preached. This was all it took to get her convicted. Also, in the Salem Witch Trials, nobody trusted the “witches”, because a person accused them as an excuse for their stupidity. Also, the ministers in the trial of Anne Hutchinson did not trust Anne because she disagreed slightly with what they were preaching and was a woman. Both trials were clear examples of distrust and injustice
3. For Miles L-G: Why did Betty and Abigail accuse Tituba of being a witch? Couldn’t they have found a less harmful excuse? Did they have a grudge against Tituba? If so for what reason?
John McKee
Doyle 1-2

8:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I learned a lot about the Salem witch trials that I didn’t know before by reading a few articles in the 5-6 period class’ newspaper. The first article I read was the cover page article about Tituba. I learned that Tituba was born in Arawak village in South America and she was moved to Barbados where Reverend Parris bought her because Parris’ wife was very ill and the Parris’ needed help taking care of their children. I also learned that Tituba told many stories about being a witch not just the one about the devils book but also ones about specters and animals coming to tell her to hurt the children and kill them. The next article I read was about identifying a witch. I learned that another way to tell if someone is a witch is to have the accused person recite the Ten Commandments of the Bible. I learned that it was known that a witch, since she had signed a contract with the devil, could not recite the commandments without messing up. I also learned that some ways of torturing people into confessing were the turcas. The turcas was used by someone putting in their fingers into a black metal ring with holes in it that would twist their fingernails off. I also leaned a torture method called the strappado. How this method worked was that someone had their hands tied behind their back by a rope and then were hoisted up in the air. Then they were dropped down and pulled abruptly up until their shoulders were dislocated. The last article I read was an article on Giles Corey. I learned that he was 80 years old when he died on September 19, 1692. He was stubborn and ill tempered. He was a semi wealthy farmer but he was very sour. He actually accused his own wife of being a witch. Corey was crushed and suffocated over a 2-day period and refused to plead guilty because he knew that if he stayed silent that his sons would inherit his land and the government wouldn’t take it away. I learned a lot more then I already knew from reading the other classes newspaper even though I was in the Salem witch trials project myself. I think that the 5-6 class did a great job and I learned a lot from their newspaper.

Aden
Doyle 1-2

9:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I learned a lot of things I didn’t know before about the Salem Witch Trials after reading The New Englander, even though I was in the newspaper too. I knew that some people in Salem believed the cause of the girls’ fits was ergot poisoning or the Devil, but I did not know about the other possibilities people had suggested. In Jacob, Marc, and Finn’s article, “How it All Began”, I learned that some people believed the cause was wheat theory or fungus theory. The girls could have gotten food poisoning from the wheat they had eaten, or there could have been mold on their bread. However, the majority of the population believed that the girls were really possessed by the Devil. I also read Talia’s article, “To Hear and To Decide”, and the group article, “Blamed, Chained, and Brutally Hanged: The Life of an Innocent Rebecca Nurse-Taken.” From Talia’s article, I learned that a specter could be anything, such as a dog or a cricket. The afflicted could tell the court that his/her specter was tormenting him/her and the accused person would have his/her house searched. Rebecca Nurse was hanged on account of spectral evidence. And from David, Lily, and Elena’s article I learned a little more about Rebecca Nurse. Rebecca Nurse was considered a good symbol of “Puritan Piety.” She went to Church regularly and was well respected by the Salem community. When she was accused, many residents created a petition to defend her innocence.

In Maya’s article, “The Proctors Accused,” she suggests that the reason the Proctors were accused was because they were related to Rebecca Nurse. My article was also about the Proctors, but focused mainly on John. I had concluded that the Proctors were accused just like anyone else. However, it makes sense to say Nurse affected the Proctors’ survival because her execution was one of the most important and significant ones.

To the webmasters of The New Englander- What was fun, challenging, or interesting about being a Webmaster and creating an online newspaper? Would you recommend this task to someone who is in the newspaper project next year? Why or why not?

Alice
Doyle 1-2

10:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jessica
Doyle 5-6

While reading periods 5/6 newspaper, I learned a lot of interesting information about the Salem Witch Trials. A man named Rodger Conant founded Salem in 1626. A lot of people think the reason women in Salem were treated a lot differently than men, is that men founded Salem. Women weren’t aloud to do a lot of the things that men did, like participate in town meetings. Some people think that this is why only women were accused of being witches (magic).
There was a slave, Tituba. She is said to be the cause of the witch trials. She was the servant of Reverend Samuel Parris. When the reverend was not at home, Tituba would tell his children stories of witchcraft and magic. After a while, the children must have started to invite people because when Tituba told her stories, the group kept getting bigger. After the girls had been listening to the stories for a while, strange things happened to them. She later confessed that she was a witch and said that a man came to her and said, “Hurt the children.” And “Kill the children.” This was the begging of the Salem witch trials.
There was a woman, Rebecca Nurse. She was accused of witchery at a very old age. Many believed her to be innocent, in fact, some people protested against her trial. During the trial, the jury and magistrates said the she was innocent, but some men told them to rethink it. There were a few ways to find out if someone was a witch. Someone could see it in a dream, some people would hunt for the witches, some women were told to read the ten commandments of the bible, and some were tortured. All of the ways to find out weather one was a witch or not, were very unreliable.
I was in the documentary on Anne Hutchinson. In some ways the trial of Anne was similar to the witch Trials. Any time that there was a trial, it was because someone didn’t believe exactly what the puritans believed. Either that, or someone was suspicious about someone else. Both things were about the puritans only allowing what they believed to be right, come into their society.
If I could ask one of the authors a question, it would be about their opinion on the practice of witchcraft. My question is “After researching on the witches, what do you think about them? Do you think that their witchcraft could have been real?”

11:55 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

In the Salem Witch Trials, I learned about different people being innocently hanged because thought to be worshipers of the devil and not God, one of the most important figureheads to Salem and all of England. Like the Puritans in Anne Hutchinson, they quickly attempted to get rid of the Quakers to establish their peaceful utopia, but in Salem, their punishments were far harsher than just banishment. Instead, they are tortured brutally until they confess to their sins and get sent to be hanged. In this punishment, I think that both the Puritans and people at Salam believe in God more than the people of their colony. I think this is true because the Puritans punished all of those who opposed to god and had a different view of the Puritans God, primarily Anne Hutchinson and the Quakers. And in Salem, the primary sin is to be a witch, which would be something not of their religion because they don’t worship the devil. One of the witches named Rebecca Nurse, a nice woman who was very religious yet she was accused of witchcraft and was soon to be hanged. But from her kindness, the people of Salem had written her a petition in her defense. Even with all of the support she was found guilty of witchcraft and was sent away to die. This is a special trial because she was actually going to be called innocent by the head judge but his mind was changed by the judges around him. Another thing I learned is about the different rules that the Puritans made the children do. They were not allowed to play with toys, show emotion, or even not celebrate Christmas. Instead kids are supposed to get a job like crafting or sowing. Next, I learned about the foods in Salem. They mainly ate broth or pork and beef. For their coarse they might get mush or pudding. How did the trials end?

Jacob Shkrob Period 5-6 11/28

4:59 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...


Ashwin A
Doyle 1-2

Three things I learned from this article is that you could commit a bad crime in Salem like murder and not get punished because of you social status. For example: Giles Corey killed Jacob Goodell because he stole apples from Zechariah’s cellar (Jacob’s brother). He hid this crime up with an excuse that Jacob fell of a horse and died. He got away with this crime in trial because of his class, he had money and land.
The second thing I learned is that, for punishment in Salem, they got tortured instead of executed. An example of this torture was that rocks were layered onto a panel in which a person lay underneath. After two days being under a panel, Giles Corey died.
The last thing I learned was that in Salem, the people were afraid of witchcraft. Martha (Giles’ wife) was accused of being a witch but it is unclear as to what she did to make her get that title.Was it due to how she acted? Was it due t ohow she talked to people?

A connection I found with this story and the French and Indian war is there was a lot unfairness. For example, in the Witch Trials, Martha (Giles' wife) was accused of being a witch but she denied it witch made people think that she was a witch. She was later found guilty for being a witch and was sent to jail. In the French and Indian war, there was a lot of unfairness towards the Indians, it was unfair to them that they had to protect their land when it wasn't necessary.

The question I have for the author is "Did the people in Salem realize how unfair it was in the town? If so, why didn't they protest?"

8:01 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I learned that if two girls were just doing what they were told the salem witch trials would have never happened. Betty Parris and Abigail Williams would go of during the day and listen to Tituba's stories about the devil. Betty and Abigail's little story sessions spread and soon 11 girls were listening to Tituba's stories. Some of the girls would start making animal noises and acting like animals. I also learned that back then in Salem people were very afraid of the Devil, so when little girls started acting strange they thought something was going on. These little girls starting accusing women of witch craft. The first three women these girls accused was Tituba, Sarah Osborne, and Sarah Good. Tituba ,being the first to get accused was beaten till she said her confessions. She confessed stories about flying broom sticks and about her sighning the book of the Devil. I learned finally that when people are afraid of getting accused they all turn on each other. When Tituba was being beaten she said she say Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne's names in the Devils book. This same sort of thing happened when other town folks were scared that the little girls was going to accuse them next.
Something I noticed between Anne Hutchinson's and the Salem Witch trials was that the higher authority of people and the judges were mostly men.
One question i have for the authors is how many women were killed during these Salem Witch trials?

Thomas
pd.5-6
Doyle,Peggy

6:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I learned that if two girls were just doing what they were told the salem witch trials would have never happened. Betty Parris and Abigail Williams would go of during the day and listen to Tituba's stories about the devil. Betty and Abigail's little story sessions spread and soon 11 girls were listening to Tituba's stories. Some of the girls would start making animal noises and acting like animals. I also learned that back then in Salem people were very afraid of the Devil, so when little girls started acting strange they thought something was going on. These little girls starting accusing women of witch craft. The first three women these girls accused was Tituba, Sarah Osborne, and Sarah Good. Tituba ,being the first to get accused was beaten till she said her confessions. She confessed stories about flying broom sticks and about her sighning the book of the Devil. I learned finally that when people are afraid of getting accused they all turn on each other. When Tituba was being beaten she said she say Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne's names in the Devils book. This same sort of thing happened when other town folks were scared that the little girls was going to accuse them next.
Something I noticed between Anne Hutchinson's and the Salem Witch trials was that the higher authority of people and the judges were mostly men.
One question i have for the authors is how many women were killed during these Salem Witch trials?

Thomas
pd.5-6
Doyle,Peggy

7:22 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Cecile Ngo
Period 5-6
One thing that i learned when I first started reading was that if you were accused you were immediately put to trial. I learned that mostly older woman and people who had miscarriages or did not go to church. Some were even accused because of their looks. Tituba was one of the hundreds of man and women accused of being a witch. She was born in the Arawak in south america and had no idea that the stories about magic she told to the children. I also learned that if you were accused of witchcraft you could not defend yourself. She said that she was a witch and that she signed the book of the devil but really she just said it to maybe have a better chance of living and to stop being beaten. A connection between the Puritans and the Salem witch trials is that both were very paranoid by what they believed in and what they wanted. The puritans believed in one religion and wanted a society/community to have only people who believe in the same religion. Salem wanted to banish all the people who were witches but they kept killing and jailing everyone who were accused in any way. What would happen to a witch that floated when tied to a chair under water?

8:43 PM  
Anonymous Dave said...

When I read the newspaper I learned many things about the Puritans and the Salem witch trials. The readings say that the citizens of Salem were charged and not given a chance to explain themselves. Then they would be given an unfair trial and be forced to admit that they were witches so they would not have to be killed. But that meant they would not go to heaven. So, they would either die in one world or the other.

Second, I learned that men called witch hunter’s tortured people if they would not admit that they were witches. This is how they would torture people according to Terrence Travis: "A person’s wrists are tied behind their back with a rope, the rope is then hoisted over a beam until the person is high in the air. The rope is then dropped repeatedly until their shoulders are dislocated."

Third, I learned that the reason there was witchcraft was because the Puritan's religion and their politics were unstable, which causes disputes between people in the society. So when one person didn’t like another person, he accused him or her of witchcraft.

A good example of how people accused others involves a group of little girls who started a magic club based on a couple of stories told by a lady named Tituba. When these girls were going to get into trouble about their secret club they falsely accused Tituba of witchcraft. As Giacomo G. writes, “The girls had not meant to accuse their friend, Tituba, but they did not want to get into trouble.” Tituba ends up saying that she was a witch so that she would not be tortured, even though she was actually not guilty.

I would connect the stories about witchcraft with the trial of Ann Hutchinson. Some reasons why these stories are connected is because in both cases you were dealing with Puritans, and they religiously intolerant and would believe almost anything that was said about other people. Basically, it seems that all of the Puritans were gullible and that made it easy to accuse people of things that they did not do. Both Ann and the people who were accused of being witches were unfairly accused and unfairly killed

My question is: if the Puritans end up becoming Calvinists and Calvinists believe everybody is in contact with God, then why are the witches not in contact with God?

1:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

After looking and reading at the news paper I was very impressed. learned that the reason "witches" were sent to trail was not because they were practicing "witch craft", it was because they were being told stories about magic and fortune tellers. i also learned that the that the village had been holding witch trials since "witch craft" had been discovered. I also learned that in september 22 of 1693 was the last of the so-called witch trials. The salem witch trials was like the French and Indian war because they both had conflict and were around the same period of time. i had a question about why there was an ad in one of the sections. Overall I thought the newspapers were very good and well thought out. Though I could find very little ways the french and Indian war had i common with the salem witch trials.

-Jenna Pandolfi
Doyle 1-2

1:00 PM  

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