The Salem Witch Trials

Baby Professor series for young people

The book notes there was witch hunting in Europe from the 1300's on through the 1600's. Thousands of women (and some men) died during that period due to the prejudice and hatred directed against them.

The Salem Witch Trials in the late 1600's in Salem resulted in over 200 people accused of being witches (almost all of them women) and 20 people died after being found guilty.

The book goes into how the area's resources were strained due to refugees from a war and how farmers and seaport people quarreled.

The girl accusers had 'fits' of behavior and would name their 'tormentors.' There was no actual real evidence in the cases. The book notes that the trials only stopped when the governor's wife was accused of being a witch.

(In other words as long as the problem was among the common people the rulers took no notice, but when one of them was accused then it was of major importtance to stop the killing.)

The book discusses dunking, the trials and the aftermath.

It's a good introductory book on the subject for young readers

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