
The Connecticut and Salem Witch Trials: An Unimaginable Horror Story
It all began in 1647 when Alice Young of Windsor was hanged for practicing witchcraft at the site of the soon-to-be Connecticut's Old State House, which now stands in the heart of Hartford and served as a home to all three branches of Connecticut state government from 1796 to 1878. In Connecticut, 11 known witchcraft accusations ended in executions.
In the year 1642, practicing witchcraft in Connecticut was punishable by death, according to connecticuthistory.org. It reads as follows:
1. If any man after legall conuiction shall have or worship any other God but the Lord God, he shall be put to death.
2. If any man or women be a witch (that is) hath or consulteth with a familliar spirit, they shall be put to death.
According to nbcconnecticut.com, a Connecticut Witch Trial Exoneration Project member, Beth Caruso stated,
“The witch trials in Connecticut were extremely deadly. The first seven people who were accused and then indicted were convicted and subsequently hanged. Seven for seven. That’s a brutal history,”
While most of the individuals charged with witchcraft were women, two men in Connecticut—John Carrington and Nathaniel Greensmith—were also executed as witches; both perished alongside their spouses. The execution of the Greensmiths occurred during the Hartford Witch Panic, a time when authorities took the lives of three accused witches within a month in the early 1660s.
A series of witchcraft accusations, trials, and executions occurred in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. More than a dozen people claimed to have been afflicted by black magic or sorcery cast by men and women who had enlisted the supernatural powers of the devil during the course of the year. Teenage girls made the majority of claims of affliction.
The Salem Witch Trials targeted a variety of individuals who were seen as deviating from Puritan norms. Some were residents of Salem who did not conform to the time's religious, cultural, or economic practices. Others were viewed as enemies of the most powerful family in the area. Additionally, some victims were simply weak and ill, finding themselves in unfortunate circumstances.
Unfortunately, despite doubts from some community members, the legal system did little to protect those accused because superstitious beliefs heavily influenced it. The witch hunt eventually ended centuries later. In 2023, the Connecticut General Assembly decided to absolve the victims of the witch trials with House Resolution No. 34—Resolution Concerning Certain Witchcraft Convictions in Colonial Connecticut.
The Beginnings of Witchcraft and Its Consequences in Connecticut and Salem, Massachusetts
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