Echoes from Salem: A Study of Witch Hunts and Mass Hysteria // Ep. 13

A mole on your face, a confession before your peers, the ownership of a voodoo doll called a poppet, singing, reading anything other than a Bible- owning a book other than a Bible, dancing….those are all signs that someone has signed their soul away to the devil. And in the late 1600s in Salem, Massachusetts, a small Puritan village erupted into mass hysteria which is now known worldwide as the Salem Witch Trials. With no separation of church and state, the power to kill in the name of their beliefs meant that law enforcement enforced the Biblical teachings as strongly as the citizen codes. Between years 1692 and 1693, 25 innocent men, women, and children would lose their lives as victims of the massive witch hunt led by the religious leaders- 19 were hanged, 1 pressed to death, and 5 died in prison- all killed by those who had motives much more sinister- I am going to take you into the ugly underbelly of the Salem Witch Trials and we’ll dive deep into a few particular stories of a few of victims- stories which should be known and there’s a lot to learn from this tragic and historical event.

Let’s Go.

This is a 2-part episode!

Thank you for being here, for listening, for caring, for supporting, and for sharing us with your friends.

xoxo Jules and Jo

https://historyofmassachusetts.org/abigail-williams-salem/

https://salem.lib.virginia.edu/n138.html

Bridget Bishop- although she wasn’t one of the original three to be accused- she was the first one to be hanged to death.

https://www.boston.com/news/history/2017/10/31/the-theory-that-may-explain-what-was-tormenting-the-afflicted-in-salems-witch-trials/

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/godinamerica-early-american-groups/#:~:text=The%20Puritans%20believed%20God%20had,of%20God's%20favor%20or%20anger.

https://www.mass.gov/news/witchcraft-law-up-to-the-salem-witchcraft-trials-of-1692#:~:text=This%20made%20witchcraft%20a%20felony,time%20was%20sentenced%20to%20death.

https://web.viu.ca/davies/H320/Sawyer.Bundren.SalemRevisited.htm

https://salemwitchmuseum.com/salem-witch-trials-chronology/

https://www.pem.org/salem-witch-trials#:~:text=Who%20died%20in%20the%20Salem,Most%20were%20hanged.

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/publications/litigation_journal/2020-21/fall/proof-salem-witch-trials/

https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/salem-witch-trials/#:~:text=It%20was%20virtually%20impossible%20to,spectral%20evidence%2C%20that%20is%2C%20evidence

https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2020/08/evidence-from-invisible-worlds-in-salem/#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20reasons%20that,a%20dream%20or%20a%20vision.