00:00Salem, Massachusetts, 1692.
00:04It all started with some young girls in the village who were acting strangely.
00:09They were screaming, thrashing around and falling to the floor in what appeared to be fits.
00:14When they came to, their eyes were blank, and they spoke in tongues,
00:18moving in ways that no normal person could.
00:22And this went on for weeks.
00:24The community was deeply religious,
00:26so naturally the conclusion they came to was that these girls must be possessed by demons.
00:32The afflicted girls claimed that three women in town had come to them in the night,
00:36afflicting them with their evil magic.
00:39And so began one of the darkest periods in American history.
00:44The Salem Witch Trials
00:46Over the next year, more than 200 people were accused of witchcraft,
00:5114 of whom would be killed before the madness finally came to an end.
00:56But why?
00:57Why did these seemingly normal people suddenly start screaming in tongues
01:01and contorting themselves into impossible positions?
01:05Were they faking it, or were they really possessed?
01:08And if they weren't, why did everyone believe that they were?
01:12Welcome to my channel.
01:14Today, we are going to find out witch trials that shook colonial America.
01:18The year is 1692, and the location is Salem Village, which today we call Danvers.
01:27Life here is hard and unforgiving.
01:30Crops fail, livestock die, and there is a very real threat of war with the Native Americans
01:35who live beyond the settlement.
01:37And through it all, the Puritan settlers cling to their faith.
01:41They believe that God is watching over them and that the devil himself tries to tempt them.
01:46One cold January day, three young girls, 8-year-old Abigail Williams, 9-year-old Ann Putnam Jr.,
01:54and 11-year-old Elizabeth Hubbard, leave their homes and head into the forest to collect firewood.
02:01All three families are poor and need the wood to keep warm during the harsh New England winters.
02:06Abigail's father is the minister of the local church.
02:11Ann Putnam's father is a wealthy landowner who has recently died,
02:15leaving his estate to his widow and nine children.
02:18And Elizabeth's father is the town doctor.
02:21That day, something strange happens in the woods, and the three girls scream and run home.
02:27When they arrive, they are hysterical and claim that they were attacked by the devil.
02:32Over the next few days, their fits become more and more intense.
02:35They cry out in pain, thrash about, and even bite and scratch themselves.
02:40To anyone watching, it seems as though they are in great agony.
02:44And it doesn't take long for the word to spread throughout the village.
02:48Martha Carrier, a poor woman who lives on the edge of town and has a reputation for being a little strange,
02:55is accused of afflicting the girls with her witchcraft.
02:58Martha denies the accusations, but the girls claim that she confessed to them in the forest.
03:03So Martha is arrested and taken to jail.
03:07She sits there for a month until one day she simply collapses and dies.
03:11The townspeople are ecstatic.
03:14They believe that God has sent her death as proof that she was a witch.
03:18This causes a frenzy.
03:20Throughout the summer, more and more people are accused of witchcraft and many are killed.
03:25It seems like everyone is afraid to speak up.
03:27And when you look at the accusations being made, it's not hard to see why.
03:34Tituba, a black slave who belongs to Reverend Paris, is accused of coming to the girls at night
03:39and forcing them to eat food that tastes like dirt and makes their teeth fall out.
03:44Sarah Good, a homeless beggar, is accused of turning the girls' blood to water.
03:49And Sarah Osborne, an elderly woman who lives alone, is accused of beating the girls with a red-hot poker.
03:57As the months pass, the situation becomes more and more dire.
04:01People are accused based on nothing more than the word of the afflicted girls.
04:06And soon it becomes clear that no one is safe.
04:10Even Reverend Paris' daughter, Elizabeth, is accused and imprisoned.
04:15But still, some people try to speak up.
04:17Reverend George Burroughs, a former minister, attends a trial
04:21and argues that there is no evidence that any of the accused witches have actually cast spells or used magic.
04:29He says that they should be given a fair trial before they are all hanged.
04:34But he is ignored and the killings continue.
04:37In October, the first man is hanged for witchcraft.
04:41His name was George Burroughs and he was a former minister who had fallen from grace.
04:45On the scaffold, he proclaims his innocence, but no one listens.
04:51One by one, more men and women are hanged, including Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Martha Carrier.
04:58By the time the trials come to an end, fourteen people will have been killed.
05:03In the end, it is unclear why the girls acted the way they did.
05:07Perhaps they truly believed they were possessed by demons.
05:10Or perhaps they were lying to cover up their own wrongdoing.
05:14Whatever the case may be, the Salem witch trials are a dark reminder of the dangers of mass hysteria.
05:21So, why didn't anyone just step forward and say that the girls were lying?
05:25After all, surely someone knew that what they were saying wasn't true.
05:30Well, not necessarily.
05:31You see, back in 1692, there was no such thing as mental illness.
05:37And so, when the girls started screaming in tongues and contorting themselves into impossible positions,
05:42it was clear to everyone that something very wrong was happening.
05:46But what that something was, no one was sure.
05:50To the townspeople of Salem, witchcraft was a very real possibility.
05:54After all, they lived in a time when it was believed that the devil walked among men,
06:00and that witches were everywhere.
06:02And so, when the girls claimed that they were being attacked by a witch,
06:06it was easy for the townspeople to believe them.
06:09But what about those who knew that the girls were lying?
06:12Surely, they could have stepped forward and set the record straight.
06:15Well, yes, they could have.
06:17But it's important to remember that in 1692, the stakes were very high.
06:22If you accused someone of being a witch, that person would likely be arrested and put on trial.
06:29And if found guilty, they would be hanged.
06:32And even if you were innocent, being accused of witchcraft could ruin your life.
06:38Your family would be torn apart, and your friends would turn their backs on you.
06:42And so, even if you knew that the girls were lying, it was very risky to speak up.
06:47In fact, there were a few people who did try to speak up, but they were ignored.
06:52One man, George Burroughs, even argued that the girls were lying,
06:56but no one listened to him, and he ended up being hanged.
07:00And this brings us back to the original question,
07:03why didn't anyone just say that the girls were lying?
07:06Well, the simple answer is that they did.
07:10Unfortunately, those who tried to speak up were ignored or silenced.
07:14And so, the hysteria continued, and 14 innocent people lost their lives.
07:20Today, we know that the Salem witch trials were a mistake,
07:24that none of the accused witches were actually witches.
07:27But, at the time, there was no way of knowing that.
07:31And so, a dark chapter in American history was born.
07:34So, what was life like after the trials?
07:37Well, after the dust had settled and the executions ended,
07:41life in Salem began to return to normal.
07:44The people who had been accused of witchcraft were eventually cleared,
07:48and the town began to rebuild.
07:50However, the legacy of the trials lived on.
07:54In the years that followed,
07:55many people wrote about what had happened in Salem.
07:58And the story of the Salem witch trials
08:00became one of the most famous in American history.
08:04Today, visitors from all over the world come to Salem
08:07to learn about the trials
08:08and to pay their respects to those who were killed.
08:11There are museums, memorials,
08:14and even a university named after the events that took place here.
08:18And what about the girls who started it all?
08:21Well, that depends on who you ask.
08:24Some historians believe that they were possessed by demons,
08:27while others believe that they were lying.
08:30But one thing is for sure.
08:32Their actions had a profound impact on the town of Salem
08:34and on American history.
08:37In conclusion, the Salem witch trials
08:39were a dark and terrifying chapter in American history.
08:43But they also teach us an important lesson
08:45about the power of fear and the importance of due process.
08:49Let this be a lesson to us all.
08:52What are your thoughts on this case?
08:55Do you think that the girls were possessed?
08:56Or that they were lying?
08:58Let me know in the comments below.
09:00And don't forget to subscribe
09:02so you don't miss out on future episodes.
09:05Until then, sleep tight
09:06and don't let the bedbugs bite.
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