![A young girl suffering from convulsions with her loved ones surrounding her, full of worry and praying](/uploads/2/3/3/3/23338564/6142469.jpg)
What were the Salem Witch Trials?
In the spring of 1692, a group of young girls in the Puritan-populated village of Salem, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several women of witchcraft. Hysteria spread through Salem. Teenage girls were becoming very ill, hallucinating, and experiencing convulsions; people became suspicious and began to blame it on witchcraft. More and more citizens were being accused of the practice. As the number of accusations grew, precautions were taken and a special court was established to hear the cases. The trials made it nearly impossible for the witches that claimed innocence to actually be proven innocent. Although mostly women, men were also accused of witchcraft. One man was crushed to death, and the rest of the accused were hanged. Towards the beginning of 1693, people began to come to their senses and the hysteria eventually dwindled, but not before over two-hundred were accused, and twenty were put on trial and hanged. To this day, the cause of the odd behavior of the teenage girls is still unknown; however, there is no evidence of any of the accused causing any harm, and they were eventually declared innocent.