During the time of the Salem Witch Trials, the frontier war with the Indians was in full swing just seventy miles from Salem. The war effort was not going very well and many thought the Indians were winning the war because of a pact with the devil. Thoughts such as this were the normal in Puritan Massachusetts. The Puritans that founded Massachusetts had strong beliefs in good and evil. With the devil believed to be nearby in the war and presences of many refugees from the war, the accusations of witchcraft by three young girls were only more believable. The frontier war and the people

One of the girls accusing everyone of practicing witchcraft, Betty Parris, was daughter of the Village Minister, Samuel Parris. Parris accepted an invitation extended by John Putnam to become Salem Minister. Betty along with her friends Ann Putnam, Mercy Lewis, and Mary Walcott began exhibiting similar signs of behavior; an illness had taken them over that caused bizarre and unwanted behavior. Mathers looked at the girls and when his nostrums failed, William Griggs called claiming the girls were under some sort of supernatural force. Mary Sibley, a neighbor, heard of the happenings and proposed a form of counter magic; they were to make rye cake with the urine of the affected victims. The rye cakes given to dogs to eat were to reveal the persons behind the acts, in those days people believed dogs carry out witch’s devilish commands. They continued with the counter magic although Tituba had already become the prime suspect. As more girls fell victim to the acts of the witches, the town released arrest warrants against Tituba and other women. Betty Paris and Abigail Williams named their afflicters, which launched the witch-hunt. The first three women who were accused of witchcraft were Sarah Osborn, Tituba, and Sarah Good. The Putnam family brought the charges up against them, Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne set the examination date for the women. On the examination, date hundreds of people showed up, telling stories of how their cheese had spoiled and how their livestock was born with a deformity. The enormous outpour of people that day set the town into a deeper frenzy, causing more accusations of wit

Some topics in this essay:
Reverend Parris, Mary Sibley, Massachusetts Puritans, Chief Justice, Massachusetts Nineteen, John Hathorne, Boston Satin, Witch Trials, Mary Walcott, Cotton Mather, chief justice, witch trials, frontier war, salem witch trials, accused witches, played major, war effort, war indians, examination date, accused witchcraft, justice system, frontier war indians,