Salem Witch Trials

Question 1

Year(s)

Answer 1

1691-1692

Question 2

Salem Town vs. Salem Village

Answer 2

Salem Town was a harbor town, while Salem Village is an inland farming village. Salem Village is more conservative and puritan.

Question 3

King James II and Governor Andros

Answer 3

James II was the second king after the puritans were kicked out. He was a Catholic and reclaimed divine right. He appointed Andros as governor over New England, who is hated by puritans.

Question 4

Glorious Revolution of 1688

Answer 4

Puritans revolt and overthrow James and Andros. Protestants William and Mary are given rule.

Question 5

King William’s War

Answer 5

England is at war with France due to Glorious Revolution. This leads to attacks by France’s Native American allies on puritans, typically consisting of bloody raids.

Question 6

The Putnam Family

Answer 6

Living in Salem Village for 3 generations, they felt commercial Salem Town was a threat, and wanted their own separate church for only visible saints.

Question 7

Deodat Lawson

Answer 7

The Putnam’s choice for a minister for Salem Village, he left when the rival Porter family asked magistrates to come and kick him out. The Putnams asked him to return during the witch trials.

Question 8

World of Signs and Wonders

Answer 8

Puritans believe that all things are a sign from god, that life is not randomly cruel.

Question 9

Visible Saints

Answer 9

Those who had received a sign from god that they were amongst those to be saved and go to heaven.

Question 10

Samuel Parris

Answer 10

A controversial minister who replaced Deodat Lawson, but had many complaints that led to divisions in the village. He was a failed businessman who owned 2 slaves, and the young girls in his house were the first to be afflicted.

Question 11

Tituba

Answer 11

Parris’s slave, thought to be Native American but commonly portrayed as black because she was purchased in Barbados. She was the first to be accused of witchcraft and confessed after a beating and gave up 2 other names.

Question 12

Witch Cake & Witches’ Familiars

Answer 12

A European superstition of making a cake with the urine of someone afflicted, then feeding to to a dog. If the dog had symptoms the afflicted was bewitched. Witches’ familiars were animal companions given to them by the devil.

Question 13

Abigail Williams

Answer 13

11 years old and living with her uncle Parris, she was one of the primary accusers and earliest to be afflicted.

Question 14

Cotton Mather

Answer 14

The most famous minister in Puritan New England, he wrote 437 books. He seemed interested in the scientific advances of enlightenment, but also firmly believed in witchcraft and said removing the devil was more important than saving innocents.

Question 15

John Corwin and John Hathorne

Answer 15

2 county magistrates that oversaw the first hearings. They acted as though witchcraft was already a given, with question such as “why did you do this”.

Question 16

Court of Oyer and Terminer

Answer 16

Made up of 6 members of the governor’s counsel and deputy governor William Stoughton, it was meant for special occasions when a regular court was not enough. Had a grand jury and petit jury, but no lawyers.

Question 17

Goody Osborne

Answer 17

One of the first to be accused of witchcraft by Tituba and Sarah Good, she did not confess and was hanged. She was an outcast in Salem, and not well liked.

Question 18

Rebecca Nurse

Answer 18

A visible saint and respected member of Salem, she was accused and hanged for witchcraft

Question 19

Giles Corey

Answer 19

An 80 year old cantankerous man, he had previously been fined and tried over other things, and was accused of witchcraft. He refused to enter a plea, and so was pressed to death under rocks.

Question 20

Judge Samuel Sewell

Answer 20

A 39 year old member of the court of Oyer and Terminer, he voted to convict a longtime business associate and member of his prayer group.

Question 21

Spectral Evidence

Answer 21

Evidence that only the accuser could see, it played a large role in accusations, but was later thought to be untrustable.

Question 22

Compurgation

Answer 22

An old method of detecting a witch, in which someone swears on a bible that they were not a witch, then is asked to recite a long oath. A mistake signals guilt. This was used in Salem.

Question 23

George Burroughs

Answer 23

Salem’s minister before Lawson, he borrowed money from the Putnams and had not paid it back. He lived on the Maine frontier, but was accused of starting the entire witch plot, arrested, and hanged in Salem.

Question 24

Ergot Poisoning

Answer 24

An explanation posed for the hysteria. Ergot is caused by wet springs and summers, and causes hallucinations. However, it should have impacted other areas in New England and other members of households who ate the same food as the afflicted.

Question 25

Mass Sociogenic Illness

Answer 25

A possible explanation for the hysteria, there was another instance of it in New York where many schoolchildren had fits and no one could figure out why.

Question 26

The Crucible

Answer 26

A play based on the Salem Witch Trials, meant to also criticize McCarthyism. It played up the idea of the accusers as manipulative.