The Salem Witch Trials were a series of legal proceedings in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692-1693 resulting in the deaths of 20 innocent people accused of witchcraft and the vilification of over 200 others based, initially, on the reports of young girls who claimed to have been harmed by the spells of certain women they accused of witchcraft.
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Definition
Timeline
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Feb 1692 - May 1693The Salem Witch Trials and witch hunts occur in and around Salem, Massachusetts.
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29 Feb 1692The first people are accused of witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials – Sarah Osborne (an elderly woman), Sarah Good (a woman of modest means) and Tituba (an enslaved woman) – are formally charged and warrants issued for their arrest on the grounds they had "bewitched" two girls, Betty Parris (age 9) and Abigail Williams (age 11) who made the accusations. This event set off the Salem Witch Trials which would result in the execution of 25 people, most by hanging. No "witches" were burned at the stake during the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials.
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2 Jun 1692Midwife Bridget Bishop becomes the first person tried on charges of witchcraft, initiating what is now known as the Salem Witch Trials. The trial lasted 8 days and she was found guilty and hanged on 10 June.
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19 Aug 1692During the Salem Witch Trials, George Burroughs, Martha Carrier, George Jacobs, Sr., John Proctor, and John Willard are executed by hanging. Contrary to popular belief, no "witches" were burned during the Salem Witch Trials, they were hanged.
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14 Jan 1697The Massachusetts General Court decrees a day of public fasting, prayer, and repentance for wrongfully executing people during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692-1693. The year is sometimes given as 1699 owing to differences in records of the time.
