Bridget Bishop made history 326 years ago today. Not that she wanted to. Bishop was the first of 20 people to be executed during the Salem witchcraft trials in Massachusetts.
Contrary to popular belief, none of the victims was burned at the stake; 19 of them were hanged and the 20th - Giles Corey - was crushed to death. As Corey’s death makes clear, women were not the only victims; six men were executed as well.
Historians have offered conflicting explanations for what happened, including psychological and even biological theories, such as contaminated food. Mary Beth Norton, author of In the Devil’s Snare, argues that Salem-area residents believed they were seeing the devil at work in Indian raids on nearby settlements, so they were susceptible to viewing accusations of witchcraft as simply further evidence of satanic mischief and mayhem.
Granted, the trials occurred before the Age of Enlightenment. Superstition remained a powerful force in people’s lives in the late 17th century. Reason had yet to assume the prominence it acquired in the 1700s.
Still, in the grand sweep of history, 1692 wasn’t really all that long ago. These people did not live in the Dark Ages. They should have known better, and they did, eventually. But not until the damage had been done.
Samuel Sewall, a judge at the trials, later apologized for his role in them, and Massachusetts came to realize - quickly but not quickly enough - that a horrible travesty had occurred.
Samuel Sewall, a judge at the trials, later apologized for his role in them, and Massachusetts came to realize - quickly but not quickly enough - that a horrible travesty had occurred.
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