The Backstory: The Salem Witch Trials: Stoned to Death

We’re sort of living in a time when finger pointing has become a huge spectator sport. Accuse somebody you don’t like or agree with of something, and you can destroy their life. But human beings have a long history of vicious finger pointing. Case in point, the Salem witch trials of 1692.

Feel free to DM me if you have a story you’d like me to cover . . on Facebook it’s Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I know, we feel like we live in a time
unlike any other, where you can be marginalized or even
accused of all kinds of horrible things, just because your
opinions or your lifestyle is different from the folks around you.
But you know what? Welcome to the club. This has
been a part of the human experience for thousands of years.
Take the Salem witch trials. I'm Patti Steele. 200 people

(00:23):
were accused, 20 executed, one of them pressed to death
under stones. That's next on The Backstory. The Backstory is back. Well,
we live in a time where people are constantly accusing
one another of all sorts of stuff, often just because
they have some fundamental disagreements about lifestyle, religion, or politics.

(00:48):
But that is so not a new thing, and it's
frequently ended in a lot more violence than it does today. Okay,
imagine living in a small town, where your neighbors suddenly
begin accusing one another of witchcraft. There was a lot
of fear about being accused and also about being brave
enough to stand up for what was right, which could

(01:09):
also get you accused. Friends became enemies, families were divided,
and a lot of innocent people were arrested, put in prison,
and even executed. This was the reality for the folks
of Salem, Massachusetts, back in 1692. The Salem witch trials
became one of the most infamous episodes in American colonial history.

(01:30):
Over the course of the trials, of the roughly 2,000
residents of Salem, around 200 were accused of witchcraft. Twenty
of them were executed, and at least five others died
in prison while awaiting trial or release. What happened? Well,
it all began in the winter of 1692 in Salem Village,

(01:51):
a town in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. At that time,
life in Salem was kind of tough. There were political
disagreements going on, religious tensions, money problems, and conflicts with
other nearby communities. People were living with the constant fear
of disease, war, and death. It wasn't a fun time. Then,

(02:12):
in early 1692, several young girls started experiencing some strange symptoms.
They had violent fits. They complained of strange sensations, and
they started doing things that people around them couldn't explain.
Some of the girls and their families claimed that they
were being attacked by invisible forces. A local doctor examined

(02:33):
the girls but couldn't find a medical explanation. Everybody wanted
an explanation, so the conclusion that a lot of people
reached was pretty frightening. It had to be witchcraft. Empowered
with the attention they were getting, the girls began accusing
other people of causing their suffering through supernatural powers. Among

(02:55):
the first people accused was Tituba, an enslaved woman in
a household where some of the girls lived, along with
Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. Tituba eventually confessed to practicing
witchcraft and even described a group of witches she claimed
was working against the community. Her confession led to more panic,

(03:15):
and of course the accusations spread. Sadly, attention motivates people.
We know that. And as more people were accused, the
situation began to get out of hand. The accused were
asked whether they'd made deals with the devil or used
supernatural powers to hurt others. It wasn't a friendly Q & A.
So imagine how you'd react. Would the attacks wear you

(03:38):
out enough to make you confess or even accuse other people? Well,
that's what happened. Some confessed, while others strongly denied the accusations.
And in some cases, they named other supposed witches, and
that created a chain reaction. One accusation would lead to another.
Pretty soon, folks who had been respected members of the

(03:59):
community were being accused and locked up. Men and women
were accused. Young people were accused. Old people were accused.
And again, even those who tried to vouch for the
accused found themselves targeted. Of course, the accusations weren't based
on any kind of physical evidence that you'd expect in
a modern-day investigation. In fact, the courts and judges even

(04:22):
accepted what was called spectral evidence. That involved claims that
an accused person's spirit or an image of the person
had appeared to someone and hurt or frightened them. The
accused could actually have been physically somewhere else while the
accuser claimed that person's spirit was attacking them. Obviously, not

(04:43):
reliable evidence these days, but in Salem, for a short time,
it apparently seemed plausible. As the trials continued, the consequences
turned deadly. The first person executed for witchcraft in Salem
was Bridget Bishop, who was hanged in June of 1692.
More executions followed. Eventually, 19 were hanged. However, one of

(05:07):
the people executed was killed in a very different way.
It's really creepy. His name was Giles Corey. The problem
for Corey was he refused to enter a plea to
the charges against him. Under the law of the time,
authorities could use something called penforte edur, or pressing, to
literally force someone to enter a plea. What did they

(05:30):
do to him? He was stripped naked, laid on some boards,
and they placed super heavy stones on the 81-year-old Corey.
Over the course of two or three days, the weight
was increased by adding more and heavier stones, but he
continued to refuse to offer a plea because that was
the only way his estate could be left to his
children rather than be confiscated by the colony. On day three,

(05:54):
he was asked again to confess, and he replied, more weight,
more stones. Giles Corey died on September 19, 1692. His wife, Martha,
also accused, was hanged three days later. Giles became the
only person executed during the Salem witch trials who was
not hanged, unlike the other 19. Of course, execution wasn't

(06:17):
the only way the accused died. A lot of people
were held in horrible prison conditions while waiting for their trial,
and at least five died in prison due to filthy
conditions and almost no food or drinkable water. Being arrested
and put in prison also took a terrible financial toll
on these people and their families. It meant they could

(06:37):
lose homes, jobs, property, and the ability to care for
their families. By late 1692, especially after the gruesome death
of Giles Corey, doubts about the trials were growing. Some
folks began questioning whether spectral evidence should really be trusted,
I think. Even important political and religious leaders started becoming

(06:59):
worried about the way the proceedings were being handled, including
Governor William Phipps, who eventually dissolved the special court handling
the witchcraft cases, most likely after his own wife, Lady
Mary Phipps, was accused of being a witch. Finally, a
large number of the 200 who were locked up as
witches were released. In the years that followed, some officials

(07:22):
and members of the community expressed regret about what had happened.
and a number of people had their sentences pardoned. But
the trials are a lasting example of what can happen
when fear, rumors, social tensions, and unreliable evidence combine and
turn into finger-pointing, either out of jealousy, fear, a desire

(07:43):
for retribution, or simply a desire for attention. The events
also show us how quickly accusations can spread when we're
afraid or angry and looking for someone to blame. They
remind us that courts and communities need reliable evidence, fair procedures,
and the ability to question accusations, especially when people's lives

(08:04):
are at stake. At the end of the day, the
Salem Witch Trials aren't simply a story about witches as
much as they are about people. The trials lasted for
a very short period, but their impact and the lessons
we hopefully can take away have lasted for centuries. I
hope you like the backstory with Patti Steele. Please leave
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(08:26):
follow for free to get new episodes delivered automatically. And
feel free to DM me if you have a story
you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, it's Patti Steele,
and on Instagram, RealPattiSteele. Thanks for listening to The Backstory

(08:49):
with Patti Steele, the pieces of history you didn't know
you needed to know.