The Salem witch craze began in the late 1600s. Governor Williams Philps arrived in Boston Harbor with the new Massachusetts charter and found the colony in uproots. Witchcraft hysteria erupted in a farming community north of Boston and later spread to other societies. This was the start of a restless time for many colonists.
Colonists believed God and Satan influenced everyday events and when something happened that could not be explained people turned to supernatural explanations. The society started to face structural changes and people immediately blamed it on witchcraft. The colony had one crisis after another- King Philips War, loss of the charter, and the Revolution of 1689.
Several girls experimented with magic aided by a slave woman, Tituba, and her husband John. It was said they baked a "witch cake". It began to be a major concern when daughter of Salem village minister, Betty Parris began experiencing fits. This 9-year-old girl thought it was caused by witches. This hysteria began to spread and later led to the arrest of Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne. .
Accused women were usually elderly, widowed, had fewer children than normal, or were lacking sons, and many were potential heirs of large estates. Some also claimed to have the power to heal and foretell the future. Men with similar characteristics however, were less likely of accusations. Three-fourths of alleged witches were women and half of the accused men were their relation. Witchcraft began to be placed on people with power and money, such as ministers, ship owners, and town officials. .
Governor Philps supported this until his wife, Mary, was getting accused. He realized that this situation was getting out of control and finally put an end to it by stating that this was unreliable. Witchcraft no longer played an important role in New England societies.
