Cry "Witch!": The Salem Witchcraft Trials: Perspectives on History (History Compass)

Amid a time of turmoil, the "afflicted girls" of 1692 Salem, Massachusetts cried out against scores of accused witches. Smallpox epidemics, drought, and Native American attacks unsettled Puritan society. Witch hysteria arose, then, with charges against a beggar and a slave and later swept up children and respected church members. Within a year, public reaction to the accusations -- and to the deaths of 20 people -- put an end to the witch trials. Court transcripts and contemporary accounts give insight into the events of 1692, from the words of those who lived and died during the trials.