One of the events the seventh grade is studying in social studies is the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials started in the small Puritan community of Salem Village Massachusetts in 1692. One evening, a group of girls gathered at the house of a man named Reverend Parris, to listen to stories told by one of his slaves Tituba. Soon after, one of the girls, Betty (Reverend Parris’ daughter) fell ill and started acting strange. Tituba was accused of practicing Witchcraft on Betty, even though she pleaded she did not work with the devil. Hurtling the town into witchcraft hysteria…
Tituba confessed to being a witch, but the others insisted that they were innocent. After those three accusations were made, a court was set up in Salem. When the “witches” were brought before the court, and the Girls started crying out, and acting strange. Because of this, the women were accused as witches, and as much as they pleaded their innocence, the court would not believe them. Soon everyone came to fear the girls, for they had power, and anyone could be accused. The girls not only accused women, but men and children were also accused of torturing the girls, and performing witchcraft. Then, people were blamed for anything strange that happened. If you were walking behind a man with his cattle, and suddenly one of the cows slipped out of the rope, and started to run away, you could be accused. The accusations continued as the girls gained more and more power. In total, the horrific event ended 24 people executed for crimes none of them had committed.
Accusations like this still continue today, and it is good to recognize the innocent people who have, and still are being accused. Recently, another accusation of witchcraft was made on a woman in living in Papua New Guinea. Kepari Leniata was a 20 year old mom, accused of witchcraft by relatives of a 6 year old boy, who had died at a hospital recently. She was stripped of her clothes, tortured with a hot iron rod, doused in gasoline, and burned on a pile of old car tires and trash by a mob earlier this month. Police said the hundreds of onlookers, many who were children and teenagers, were powerless against the mob of about 40 people who participated in the killing of Kepari Leniata. Local police also claim they were unable to stop the mob, due to the huge crowds gathered.
An Oxfam report from 2010 found that beliefs in witchcraft and sorcery are not uncommon in the highlands of Papua New Guinea because many people do not accept natural causes as an answer to misfortune, illness, accidents, or death. They decide to blame their problems on black magic (“sanguma” in the local language) or sorcery. It is easier for some people to blame bad events on black
magic rather than on scientific causes, because they don’t want to face the fact that they can’t control the events that happen because of natural causes.
– Bella
