Salem Trials

Question 1

When did the first settlers arrive in Salem?

Answer 1

1630

Question 2

In February 1692, who was it who began acting oddly by lashing out and diving under furniture, and who acted the same later on?

Answer 2

Elizabeth Parris (9) daughter of Samuel Parris, and then her cousin Abigail Williams (11)

Question 3

What did Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams both complain of?

Answer 3

Being pricked with pins.

Question 4

What did Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams experimented with prior to their possessions?

Answer 4

Fortune Telling with a Venus Glass

Question 5

Who was the doctor Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams were taken to see and what did he credit their illness to?

Answer 5

William Griggs and he credited the girls’ illness to demonic possession

Question 6

What were the names of the four girls who visited Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams and then began to contract their symptoms?

Answer 6

Ann Putnam Jr (11), Mercy Lewis (19) Servant of the Putnam Family, Mary Walcott (18) a niece of the Putnam’s and Elizabeth Hubbard (17) who was Dr Griggs’ niece

Question 7

What happened to the girls during trials of witchcraft?

Answer 7

They were used as witnesses and would notoriously collapse to the ground and scream when the accused entered the room, their evidence became central to many cases.

Question 8

What happened to the three girls who were two young to testify (Elizabeth Parris, Abigail Williams and Ann Putnam)?

Answer 8

Their accusations were endorsed by adults

Question 9

How many people were accused and executed during the Salem Witch Trials?

Answer 9

200 Accused 20 of which were executed, 80% of the accused were women with 5 men.

Question 10

Who were the Goodwin family and which of them became afflicted with fits?

Answer 10

They were a Puritan family from Boston, and the daughter Martha Goodwin became afflicted with fits after accusing a servant of stealing.

Question 11

Who was believed to be the witch who cursed the Goodwins?

Answer 11

Mary Glover, the mother of the servant, she was seen as an outsider as she only spoke Gaelic and was a Catholic)

Question 12

Who else came to suffer fits from the Goodwin family?

Answer 12

Martha’s brother and two sisters.

Question 13

What did the doctor conclude about the Goodwin’s affliction of fits?

Answer 13

They could be down to witchcraft as all the children felt pain at the same parts of their body at the same time, even in different rooms.

Question 14

When Glover, was arrested what items were found in her house?

Answer 14

Dolls, which she admitted to using for witchcraft.

Question 15

What happened when Mary Glover was given the doll during her trial?

Answer 15

The Goodwin children fell into fits and started screaming in pain.

Question 16

What did the Goodwin case suggest about the Salem Girls?

Answer 16

They based their behaviour off Mather’s descriptions of the Goodwin’s behaviour.

Question 17

Who was Tituba and how did she become involved in the Salem witch hunt?

Answer 17

She was a slave for the Parris household, and she became involved once she was asked to bake a witch’s cake by an aunty of one of the girls.

Question 18

What was the witch’s cakes role that Tituba made and what happened to the girls’ condition?

Answer 18

The cake was made of the urine of the afflicted girls, and was fed to a dog to sniff out the responsible witch, however the girls condition worsened.

Question 19

Who was Cotton Mather?

Answer 19

One of the most influential Puritan religious leaders in the later 17th early 18th century in Massachusetts, he graduated Harvard at 15 years old.

Question 20

How many books had Cotton Mather written before the Salem witch hunt?

Answer 20

Over 450, many being on witchcraft, such as Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcraft and Possessions in 1689.

Question 21

Why would Cotton Mather’s support for spectral evidence and trials, and warnings against witches hold great weight amongst Salem residents?

Answer 21

He was a high standing member of the community.

Question 22

Where did the majority of accusers and accused come from?

Answer 22

Accused came from Salem Town, the accusers came from Salem Village.

Question 23

Who was there a bitter feud between?

Answer 23

Putnam’s and Porter’s.

Question 24

Which family and figures were most influential in driving the witch craze?

Answer 24

The Putnam family especially Ann Putnam who was a huge part in the witch-craze, who was most likely influenced by her father Thomas Putnam, as he complained about possible witches than anyone else (10)