The Salem Witch Trials Part 1 of 2
How Fear, Faith, and Factionalism Devoured a Puritan Community
In the winter of 1692, in the small farming settlement of Salem Village (today’s Danvers, Massachusetts), two girls began having fits. By the following spring the colony’s jails were overcrowded, a special court was hanging people on the strength of dreams and visions, and a respected grandmother had been condemned after a jury’s not-guilty verdict was overturned. By the time the hysteria burned itself out in 1693, more than 200 people had been accused of witchcraft, 30 convicted, and 19 hanged. One elderly man was pressed to death with stones. Several more, including infants, died in prison. It remains the deadliest witch hunt in colonial North American history.
A Community Already Fractured
Salem in the late 17th century was not a peaceful New England idyll. Salem Village was a poorer, inland farming community of roughly 500 people, locked in long-running disputes with the more commercial Salem Town over taxes, land, and church authority. The village had struggled for years to retain a minister; Reverend Samuel Parris, installed in 1689, was rigid, quarrelsome over his salary, and deeply unpopular with part of the congregation. Broader forces compounded the local tensions: the Massachusetts Bay Colony had lost its charter in the 1680s and was navigating a new, more restrictive royal charter; King William’s War with the French and their Native American allies had brought refugees, raids, and constant anxiety along the frontier; and Puritan theology taught that the Devil was an active, personal enemy constantly probing for weakness in the godly community.
In this atmosphere, ordinary misfortunes—illness, livestock deaths, crop failures, neighborly grudges—could be read as signs of supernatural malice.
The Devil didn't come to Salem. He was already there.
The Fits Begin
In January 1692, nine-year-old Betty Parris (daughter of Reverend Parris) and her eleven-year-old cousin Abigail Williams started exhibiting strange behavior: screaming, contorting, throwing objects, and complaining of being pinched or bitten. A local doctor concluded they were bewitched. Soon other girls and young women—Ann Putnam Jr. (about 12), Mercy Lewis, Mary Walcott, Elizabeth Hubbard, and others—began showing similar symptoms.
Under pressure, the girls named three women: Tituba, an enslaved woman of Caribbean or Indigenous origin in the Parris household; Sarah Good, a homeless, quarrelsome beggar; and Sarah Osborne, an elderly woman who had not attended church regularly and was rumored to have lived with an indentured servant before marriage. On February 29, 1692, warrants were issued. Examinations began March 1 before magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin. Tituba eventually confessed (after initial denials), describing a pact with the Devil, a black dog, and other witches—including naming more people. Her confession, and the dramatic fits of the “afflicted” during examinations, electrified the community.
A neighbor, Mary Sibley, had earlier directed Tituba and John Indian to bake a “witch cake” of rye meal mixed with the girls’ urine and feed it to a dog—an act of folk counter-magic that outraged Parris as blasphemous and may have further inflamed the situation.
Spectral Evidence and the Court of Oyer and Terminer
As accusations multiplied and jails filled, Governor Sir William Phips (recently arrived with the new charter) established a special Court of Oyer and Terminer (“to hear and determine”) on May 27, 1692. Lieutenant Governor William Stoughton served as chief justice. The court allowed spectral evidence: testimony that the accused’s spirit or “specter” had appeared to and tormented the accuser. Because the Devil could, in theory, take the shape of an innocent person, such evidence was theoretically problematic—but the court treated it as highly persuasive. Combined with confessions (often extracted under pressure or the hope of leniency), “witch’s marks” (moles or scars), and the dramatic courtroom fits of the afflicted, conviction rates soared. Those who confessed were often spared execution; those who maintained their innocence were more likely to hang.
The first person tried and hanged was Bridget Bishop (June 10), an older woman with a reputation for sharp speech and nonconformity. Five more were hanged on July 19, including Sarah Good and the elderly, highly respected Rebecca Nurse.
Notable Cases
Rebecca Nurse, 71, was a pious, long-standing church member. Thirty-nine prominent neighbors petitioned on her behalf. At trial the jury initially returned a not-guilty verdict; the afflicted girls erupted in fits, Chief Justice Stoughton sent the jury back, and a remark Nurse made (she was hard of hearing and may not have understood the question) was interpreted against her. She was hanged on July 19. Her case shocked many and helped sow later doubt.
George Burroughs, a former Salem Village minister, was hanged on August 19. On the gallows he flawlessly recited the Lord’s Prayer—something witches were supposedly unable to do—yet the execution proceeded.
Giles Corey, an 81-year-old farmer, refused to enter a plea. Under English legal practice, standing “mute” prevented a trial (and potential forfeiture of his property). Authorities subjected him to peine forte et dure: he was laid on the ground with boards and increasing weights of stone piled on him. Contemporary accounts describe the ordeal lasting roughly two days; Sheriff George Corwin reportedly forced Corey’s tongue back into his mouth with a cane when it protruded. Corey died on September 19. Tradition records his response as “More weight.” His wife Martha was hanged three days later. Corey’s was the only use of this method in colonial America.
The final hangings occurred on September 22 (eight people, including Mary Easty, Rebecca Nurse’s sister, who had petitioned for a fair trial).
Why Did It Happen?
No single explanation fully accounts for the crisis. The most durable scholarly consensus points to a combustible mix of factors:
Religious worldview: Puritans believed in an active Devil and the reality of witchcraft as a capital crime under both English and colonial law.
Social and economic conflict: Long-standing factionalism in Salem Village (over the ministry, land boundaries, and status) mapped onto many accusations. The Putnam family and their circle were heavily involved in accusations; some victims came from rival factions.
Political and wartime anxiety: Charter changes, weak civil institutions in 1692, and the trauma of frontier war created a climate of fear and a search for scapegoats.
Gender and vulnerability: The large majority of the accused were women, especially those who were poor, elderly, outspoken, or otherwise marginalized. Men were also accused and executed, however.
Legal process failures: The admission of spectral evidence, lack of counsel for the accused, presumption of guilt, and pressure on juries created a system almost designed to convict.
The popular “ergot poisoning” theory—proposed in 1976 by Linnda Caporael—that moldy rye bread caused LSD-like hallucinations has been thoroughly critiqued and is rejected by most historians. The symptoms do not match documented ergotism well, the affliction did not affect whole households sharing the same grain, and the pattern of spread and sudden cessation fit social dynamics better than a fungal epidemic.
The Collapse
By autumn 1692 the accusations had reached prominent people (including the governor’s own wife in one instance). Increase Mather and other ministers began criticizing reliance on spectral evidence, arguing it was better that ten witches escape than one innocent die. On October 29 Governor Phips dissolved the Court of Oyer and Terminer. A new Superior Court of Judicature, barred from using spectral evidence, tried remaining cases in early 1693 and convicted only a handful; Phips ultimately pardoned those still imprisoned. By May 1693 the crisis was over.
Aftermath, Apologies, and Legacy
The damage lingered. Families were ruined by imprisonment costs and confiscated property. In January 1697 the Massachusetts General Court declared a day of fasting and repentance. Judge Samuel Sewall publicly confessed his error in church. Twelve jurors signed a statement of regret. Accuser Ann Putnam Jr. apologized in 1706. In 1711 the legislature reversed many attainders and authorized roughly £600 in restitution to victims’ families. Full legal exoneration of all the convicted was not completed until modern times; the last person, Elizabeth Johnson Jr., was cleared by the Massachusetts legislature in 2022.
The trials became a lasting American cautionary tale. Arthur Miller’s 1953 play The Crucible used them as an allegory for McCarthyism. Today Salem is a major tourist destination, though the commercialization of “witch” imagery sits uneasily beside the real history of judicial murder. Historians continue to debate motives and mechanisms, but the core facts are clear: a community under stress, a legal system that abandoned ordinary safeguards, and a willingness to accept extraordinary evidence produced extraordinary injustice.
The Ghosts of Salem Still Linger
In the centuries since the 1692 witch trials, Salem, Massachusetts, has become one of America’s most persistently haunted cities, its streets and old houses layered with stories of restless spirits that locals and visitors alike link to the violence of that year. The ghost of Giles Corey is said to linger near Howard Street Cemetery, where he was pressed to death under stones after refusing to plead; tradition holds that he cursed the sheriff and the town with his final breaths, and some claim his presence has been felt before later disasters. At the Joshua Ward House (now The Merchant hotel), built on the site of Sheriff George Corwin’s home, guests report the sensation of being choked or touched by invisible hands—echoes, guides say, of the brutal high sheriff who oversaw the imprisonments and executions. Other places carry their own spectral weight: the Witch House of Judge Jonathan Corwin, the Ropes Mansion haunted by a woman who died in a fire, and the Hawthorne Hotel, where Room 325 and the upper floors are associated with moving furniture, cold spots, and a woman in period dress. Whether these accounts are residual trauma given form by modern tourism or something harder to explain, the hauntings have become inseparable from Salem’s identity, turning the site of judicial tragedy into a year-round destination for ghost tours that walk the same ground where the accused once stood.
The Salem Witch Trials lasted little more than a year. Their lesson about the fragility of justice under fear has endured for more than three centuries.
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Sources used for this podcast:
University of Virginia: Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive
Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project. Main archive of transcribed court records, historical materials, maps, and related resources.[salem.lib.virginia]
Overview of the Salem Witch Trials. Used for the scope, chronology, and minimum death toll.[salem.lib.virginia]
Important Persons in the Salem Court Records. Biographical summaries used alongside the documentary case files.[salem.lib.virginia]
List of Judges. Consulted for judicial personnel, with the qualification that it mixes some officials and roles that need to be distinguished.[salem.lib.virginia]
Salem Village Witchcraft Victims’ Memorial. Used for commemoration and the identification of victims.[salem.lib.virginia]
The following files from The Salem Witchcraft Papers were used or consulted during our research:
Person or subject | Documentary file |
Bridget Bishop | No. 013: Bridget Bishop Executed, June 10, 1692. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Martha Carrier | No. 024: Martha Carrier Executed, August 19, 1692. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Sarah Cloyce | No. 033: Sarah Cloyce. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Giles Corey | No. 037: Giles Corey. [salem.lib.virginia][blogs.loc][salemwitchmuseum] |
Martha Corey | No. 038: Martha Corey Executed, September 22, 1692. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Lydia Dustin | No. 042: Lydia Dustin Died in Prison, March 10, 1693. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Rebecca Eames | No. 044: Rebecca Eames. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Mary Easty | No. 045: Mary Esty Executed, September 22, 1692. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Abigail Faulkner Sr. | No. 052: Abigail Faulkner, Sr. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Ann Foster | No. 059: Ann Foster Died in Prison. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Sarah Good | No. 063: Sarah Good Executed July 19, 1692. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Abigail Hobbs | No. 069: Abigail Hobbs. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Deliverance Hobbs | No. 070: Deliverance Hobbs. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Elizabeth Howe | No. 072: Elizabeth How Executed July 19, 1692. [salem.lib.virginia] |
George Jacobs Sr. | No. 078: George Jacobs, Sr. Executed, August 19, 1692. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Elizabeth Johnson Sr. | No. 082: Elizabeth Johnson, Sr. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Mary Lacey Sr. | No. 086: Mary Lacey, Sr. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Mary Lacey Jr. | No. 087: Mary Lacey, Jr. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Susannah Martin | No. 092: Susannah Martin Executed July 19, 1692. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Rebecca Nurse | No. 094: Rebecca Nurse Executed July 19, 1692. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Sarah Osborne | No. 095: Sarah Osborne Died in Prison, May 10, 1692. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Alice Parker | No. 097: Alice Parker Executed, September 22, 1692. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Mary Parker | No. 098: Mary Parker Executed, September 22, 1692. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Elizabeth Proctor | No. 106: Elizabeth Proctor. Includes the joint examination involving Sarah Cloyce. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Ann Pudeator | No. 113: Ann Pudeator Executed, September 22, 1692. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Wilmott Redd | No. 114: Wilmott Reed Executed, September 22, 1692. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Margaret Scott | No. 119: Margaret Scott Executed, September 22, 1692. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Susannah Sheldon | No. 121: Susanna Sheldon. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Tituba | No. 125: Tituba. Includes the February 29 warrant for Tituba and Sarah Osborne. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Roger Toothaker | No. 129: Roger Toothaker Died in Prison, June 16, 1692. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Samuel Wardwell | No. 133: Samuel Wardwell Executed, September 22, 1692. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Mary Warren | No. 135: Mary Warren. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Sarah Wildes | No. 136: Sarah Wilds Executed July 19, 1692. [salem.lib.virginia] |
John Willard | No. 137: John Willard Executed August 19, 1692. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Accusers and accused | No. 165: List of Eleven Accused Persons and Their Accusers, May 1692. [salem.lib.virginia] |
Later legal restoration | No. 173: Reversal of Attainder and Restitution, 1710–1750. [salem.lib.virginia] |
University-hosted interpretive essays
Elizabeth Hubbard.[salem.lib.virginia]
Sarah Osborne.[salem.lib.virginia]
Mercy Lewis.[salem.lib.virginia]
Court Examination of Rebecca Nurse.[salem.lib.virginia]
Rebecca Nurse.[salem.lib.virginia]
Courtroom Examination of Bridget Bishop.[salem.lib.virginia]
Giles Corey.[salem.lib.virginia]
Salem Witch Museum | General sources
Salem Witch Trials Chronology.[salemwitchmuseum]
FAQs About the Salem Witch Trials.[salemwitchmuseum]
Path from Jail to Execution.[salemwitchmuseum]
Boston Jail in 1692, Site of.[salemwitchmuseum]
Witch Trials Memorial.[salemwitchmuseum]
Biographical and historic-site articles
Foundation of Salem Village Parsonage. Samuel Parris and his household.[salemwitchmuseum]
Thomas, Ann (Sr.), and Ann (Jr.) Putnam Home, Site(s) of.[salemwitchmuseum]
Edward Putnam Sr. Homestead, Site of.[salemwitchmuseum]
Sarah Osborne House.[salemwitchmuseum]
Rebecca Nurse Homestead.[salemwitchmuseum]
Giles and Martha Corey Memorial.[salemwitchmuseum]
Sarah and Peter Cloyce Home, Site of.[salemwitchmuseum]
Mary and Isaac Easty Home, Site of.[salemwitchmuseum]
William and Joanna Towne Home, Site of.[salemwitchmuseum]
Bridget Bishop Home and Orchards, Site of.[salemwitchmuseum]
Roger, Mary, and Margaret Toothaker Home, Site of.[salemwitchmuseum]
Martha and Thomas Carrier / Widow Allen Home, Site of.[salemwitchmuseum]
Ann Foster Home, Site of.[salemwitchmuseum]
Susannah Martin House Marker.[salemwitchmuseum]
Sarah and John Wildes Home, Site of.[salemwitchmuseum]
Ann Pudeator Home, Site of.[salemwitchmuseum]
Alice Parker Home, Site of.[salemwitchmuseum]
Mary Parker Home, Site of.[salemwitchmuseum]
Margaret Scott Home, Site of.[salemwitchmuseum]
Wilmott Redd Home, Site of / Redd’s Pond.[salemwitchmuseum]
Sarah and Samuel Wardwell Home, Site of.[salemwitchmuseum]
John Willard Home, Site of.[salemwitchmuseum]
Bray Wilkins Sr. Home, Site of.[salemwitchmuseum]
Rebecca and George Jacobs Jr. Home, Site of.[salemwitchmuseum]
Hobbs Family Home, Site of.[salemwitchmuseum]
Mary and Lawrence Lacey Home, Site of.[salemwitchmuseum]
Solart-Woodward House. Sarah Good’s family background and infant daughter.[salemwitchmuseum]
Peabody Essex Museum and Phillips Library
The Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Historical overview and introduction to the museum’s surviving records.[pem]
Salem Witch Trials Documents. Digital collection of original legal documents.[pem.quartexcollections]
Petition of Mary Esty. The surviving petition asking authorities to prevent further innocent deaths.[pem.quartexcollections]
Examinations of Abigail Hobbs in Prison, April 20–May 12, 1692. Archival description of the original records.[pem.as.atlas-sys]
Government, Legal, and Legislative Sources | Library of Congress
The Crushing Death of Giles Corey of Salem, 1692. Used to explain pressing, Corey’s refusal to submit to trial, and uncertainty surrounding the property-forfeiture explanation.[blogs.loc]
Commonwealth of Massachusetts and State Library
The Salem Witchcraft Trials. Massachusetts government explanation of later legislative action.[mass]
Resolves, 1957, Chapter 145. The original legislative resolution addressing Ann Pudeator and others and condemning the proceedings.[archives.lib.state.ma]
State Library discussion of the 1957 resolution and the 2001 legislation naming additional victims.[mastatelibrary.blogspot]
Massachusetts Historical Society
Samuel Sewall Diary, 1685–1703. Used for Sewall’s public acknowledgment of responsibility and the historical context of his apology.[masshist]
Samuel Sewall. Biographical material.[masshist]
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Salem Witch Trials According to the Historical Records. Particularly useful for Dorothy Good, William Good’s compensation petition, and the infant who died in custody.[neh]
Historical Interpretation and Research Guides
Ohio State University, What Was Wrong with the Judges at the Salem Witch Trials? Discussion featuring historian Emerson Baker; used to clarify judicial personnel and institutional responsibility.[origins.osu]
Oxford University Press blog, Bernard Rosenthal, Bridget Bishop: First Victim of Salem’s Gallows Hill. Used to distinguish Bishop’s documented history from popular misconceptions and explain why her case may have been selected first.[blog.oup]
Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, The Salem Witch Trials Memorial: Finding Humanity in Tragedy. Used for the 1992 memorial and its interpretation.[folklife.si]
Boston Public Library, Salem Witch Trials: Accusers and Accused. Research guide used for Elizabeth Hubbard and other participants.[guides.bpl]
Rebecca Nurse Homestead, About Us and Resource Links. Used for the Nurse family, property, and Towne sisters.[rebeccanurse][rebeccanurse]
New-York Historical Society, Tituba, in Women & the American Story. Used for Tituba’s enslavement and imprisonment.[wams.nyhistory]
History of Massachusetts Blog — Rebecca Beatrice Brooks
Articles used included:
Timeline of the Salem Witch Trials.[historyofmassachusetts]
Salem Witch Trials Accusers.[historyofmassachusetts]
Salem Witch Trials Judges.[historyofmassachusetts]
Reverend Samuel Parris: Was He to Blame for the Salem Witch Trials?[historyofmassachusetts]
Betty Parris: First Afflicted Girl of the Salem Witch Trials.[historyofmassachusetts]
Elizabeth Hubbard of Salem Village.[historyofmassachusetts]
Individual case histories for Sarah Good, Rebecca Nurse, Martha Corey, Mary Easty, Roger Toothaker, Martha Carrier, Sarah Wildes, Susannah Martin, George Jacobs Sr., John Willard, Alice Parker, Wilmott Redd, Margaret Scott, Samuel Wardwell, and Mary Warren.[historyofmassachusetts][historyofmassachusetts][historyofmassachusetts][historyofmassachusetts][historyofmassachusetts][historyofmassachusetts][historyofmassachusetts][historyofmassachusetts][historyofmassachusetts][historyofmassachusetts][historyofmassachusetts][historyofmassachusetts][historyofmassachusetts][historyofmassachusetts][historyofmassachusetts]
Famous Trials
Biographical and chronological pages consulted included:
Samuel Parris.[famous-trials]
Ann Putnam Jr.[famous-trials]
Mary Easty.[famous-trials]
Tituba.[famous-trials]
Deliverance Hobbs.[famous-trials]
Chronology of Events Relating to the Salem Witchcraft Trials.[famous-trials]
Other supporting sources
American National Biography, Parris, Samuel (1653–1720), Merchant and Minister.[anb]
Colonial Society of Massachusetts, introductory material on Samuel Parris.[colonialsociety]
Tulane University’s Salem educational materials, including The Reverend Samuel Parris and The Beginning.[www2.tulane][www2.tulane]
ThoughtCo biographies and judicial summaries, used for comparison where dates or family details differed.[thoughtco][thoughtco][thoughtco][thoughtco]
Encyclopaedia Britannica entries concerning Samuel Parris and Tituba.[britannica][britannica]
Colonial Medicine Sources
National Park Service, Drug Production in the Seventeenth Century.[nps]Colonial Society of Massachusetts, The Healing Arts in Colonial and Revolutionary Massachusetts.[colonialsociety]
Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Botanic Remedies in Colonial Massachusetts, 1620–1820.[colonialsociety]
American Journal of Hospital Pharmacy, Drug Therapy in Colonial and Revolutionary America.[academic.oup]
National Humanities Center, Health, in Becoming American: The British Atlantic Colonies, 1690–1763.[nationalhumanitiescenter]
Websites, historical articles, and research sources
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Belling, A. (2023, December 5). A beginner’s guide to the Puritans. Undeceptions. https://undeceptions.com/articles/a-beginners-guide-to-the-puritans/
Boston Public Library. (n.d.). Accusers and accused: Salem witch trials. https://guides.bpl.org/salemwitchtrials/accusersandaccused
Colonial America: A break with England. (n.d.). Walker's 8th Grade [WordPress blog]. https://walkers8th.wordpress.com/archive-year-i/colonial-americaa-break-w
Find a Grave. (n.d.). Sarah Good [Memorial]. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/40933853/sarah-good
Goldfarb, K. (2025, January 6). The disturbing story of Abigail Williams, the 12-year-old girl who helped start the Salem witch trials. All That's Interesting. https://allthatsinteresting.com/abigail-williams
Harris, G. (2025, September 8). Ipswich and the Salem witchcraft trials. Historic Ipswich. https://historicipswich.net/2025/09/08/ipswich-and-the-salem-witchcraft-trials/
Harris, G. (2026, July 31). Ipswich & the Brookfield Massacre, August 2, 1675. Historic Ipswich. https://historicipswich.net/2026/07/31/brookfield-massacre/
HISTORY.com Editors. (2010, February 9). First Salem witch hanging. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-10/first-salem-witch-hanging
How Susannah Martin became a Salem witch trials victim. (n.d.). Salem Haunted Adventures. https://salemhauntedadventures.com/how-susannah-martin-became-a-salem-witch-trials-victim/
John Proctor: The farmer, the skeptic, and the victim of the Salem witch trials. (n.d.). Salem Haunted Adventures. https://salemhauntedadventures.com/john-proctor-the-farmer-the-skeptic-and-the-victim-of-the-salem-witch-trials/
Jonathan Corwin: The judge behind Salem's witch trials. (n.d.). Salem Haunted Adventures. https://salemhauntedadventures.com/jonathan-corwin-the-judge-behind-salems-witch-trials/
The journey of Goldberg in WWE. See Roberts entry below.
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Lewis, J. J. (2020, January 31). Tituba and the Salem witch trials of 1692. ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/tituba-salem-witch-trials-3530572
Mark, J. J. (2020, November 26). Ten Pilgrim facts you need to know. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1647/ten-pilgrim-facts-you-need-to-know/
Native Americans. (n.d.). Tituba. https://www.native-americans.org/tituba/
Pruitt, S. (2021, September 27). Salem witch trials: Who were the main accusers? HISTORY. https://www.history.com/articles/salem-witch-trials-accusers
Ray, B. (2026, February). The medical doctor who triggered the Salem witch trials of 1692. Commonplace. https://commonplace.online/article/the-medical-doctor-who-triggered-the-salem-witch-trials-of-1692/
Roberts, J. (2025, July 11). The journey of Goldberg in WWE. Last Word on Pro Wrestling. https://lastwordonsports.com/prowrestling/2025/07/11/the-journey-of-goldberg-in-wwe/
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Salem witch trials: Account of the events. (n.d.). Famous Trials. https://famous-trials.com/salem/2078-sal-acct
Sarah Good. (n.d.). The History Junkie. https://thehistoryjunkie.com/sarah-good/
Sarah Wildes: A victim of the Salem witch trials. (n.d.). Salem Haunted Adventures. https://salemhauntedadventures.com/sarah-wildes-a-victim-of-the-salem-witch-trials/
Schiff, S. (2015, November). Unraveling the many mysteries of Tituba, the star witness of the Salem witch trials. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/unraveling-mysteries-tituba-salem-witch-trials-180956960/
The Boston Globe. (2014, October 25). What the Salem witch trials taught us about language. https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2014/10/25/what-salem-witch-trials-taught-about-language/d75xhHOIjhLLg2yABKYVvO/story.html
The Sun. (n.d.). What were the Salem witch trials? https://www.the-sun.com/news/6515011/what-were-salem-witch-trials/
The Puritans identified with the Israelites and practiced covenants. (n.d.). American Heritage. https://americanheritage.org/the-puritans-identified-with-the-israelites-and-practiced-covenants/
University of Virginia. (n.d.). Salem witch trials archival document [Digitized archival image]. Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project. https://salem.lib.virginia.edu/archives/MassHist/large/H54A.jpg
Wikimedia Commons contributors. (n.d.). File: Martha Corey-Longfellow.jpg [Image]. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Martha_Corey-Longfellow.jpg
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Martha Corey. In Wikipedia. Retrieved October 20, 2026, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Corey
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National Geographic. (2024, November 14). The Salem witch hunt (full episode) | Witches: Truth behind the trials [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gksEuJN04Q
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