HOME PAGE   KAT STORE   DVD   MUSIC   METAL VIDEOS   HOT PHOTOS   ARTICLES   RADIO   GUESTBOOK   KAT BIO   CLASSICAL COMPOSERS   GENIUSES   REVIEW COPIES   LINKS   CONTACT KAT		Salem Witch Trials 1692-1693   In 1692, during the Salem Witch Trials, the malicious, superstitious and ignorant Puritans in Salem, Massachusetts hanged 19 INNOCENT people as "WITCHES" and imprisoned 150 more on "WITCHCRAFT" charges.   In 1692, the community of Salem, Massachusetts was made up of PURITANS, who were known as devoulty religious, yet ignorant sexists and believed women should be subservient and bow down to men. These people had brought the belief in WITCHCRAFT from England, which was a crime punishable by death. After the Reverend Parris arrived in Salem, his daughter, Elizabeth Parris, her cousin and a friend gathered around the kitchen table and listened to the family slave, Tituba, tell supernatiural tales. The girls became fascinated with the occult, but their games got out of hand. The girls began to act strangely and screaming as if they were "POSSESSED" BY THE DEVIL.  Suspicions that witchcraft led to their strange behavior, three women, including Tituba, were arrested for practicing witchcraft. More arrests ensued and mass trials were held. 19 innocent men and women were convicted and hanged as "witches."  150 other innocent people were imprisoned for witchcraft.    Rampant accusations of witchcraft were spreading throughtout Salem. Women whose behavior was considered NOT NORMAL were considered WITCHES. One man who would not plead innocent or guilty was tortured and pressed to death with large stones. One woman who had premarital sex was accused of witchcraft. Two independent women who did not agree with the Puritanical social behavior were arrested for "practicing witchcraft." Some defendants were convicted of being witches because they could not recite the Lord's Prayer!   The ritualistic and ignorant Puritans seeked scapegoats to blame for their feelings of wanting to become more liberal and commercial, which was against their strict religion.   Some people believed that Reverend Parris led the witch hunt with the local farmers, to get revenge on the important merchants of the town for threatening their meager lifestyles.   This WITCHCRAFT insanity lasted about a year. The Governor of Massachusetts, William Phips, and the Reverend Increase Mather from HARVARD UNIVERSITY (Harvard University was named for the PURITAN MINISTER John Harvard [1607-38]) questioned the reliability of the evidence used in the WITCH TRIALS and dissolved the tribunal which was established to preside over witchcraft trials.    EVERYONE AGREED THAT VICTIMS WHO WERE HUNG WERE FALSELY ACCUSED. In 1693, the people still in jail were freed and in 1711 the colony's legislature made payments to the families of the victims imprisoned or hung for being "witches." The superstitious, ignorant, ritualistic religious Puritans caused the hanging and imprisonment of innocent people, just because these people did NOT FIT into their social and religious agendas!     The contents of all music, photos, graphics, text and videos are protected by copyright and may not be used or reproduced without prior express written authorization from the publisher.