Petition for Bail from Accused Witches

The Salem Witch Trials were characterized by a sense of taboo and hysteria that prevented the defendants from receiving a fair trial. Legally, the Massachusetts colony’s judicial system required three steps before delivering the capital punishment (Ray). These steps were not followed in the traditional sense during the Salem Witch Trials. The process began with examinations of the accused, which included gathering complaints, arrest warrants, and conducting preliminary hearings (Ray). As many of the initial accusers were young children aged eight to twelve, much of the evidence against the women was incoherent and elusive (Ray). However, due to the widespread fear of witchcraft, the hysterical accusations and reenactments of alleged acts of witchcraft were often enough to warrant jail time. Normally, the jury trial took place immediately after an arrest, but during the Salem Witch Trials, many of the accused were left in jail for three months before receiving a trial (Ray). This gap between the examination process and the trial “encouraged more accusations and arrests” (Ray). As more and more women were arrested, a widespread sense of suspicion and paranoia led to more allegations of witchcraft. In the above 1692 petition, nine women plead to the governor and Boston General Assembly in order to be released from their overspent jail time. With winter approaching, the women fear that they will “perish with cold” in Ipswtich jail before their trials in the spring. The women do not fear the trials, but that they will die while waiting to be tried. This petition reveals the cruel treatment of the accused women who were imprisoned due to mere speculations. Even before their trials, the innocent women of the Salem Witch Trials were unlawfully punished as criminals.

Citations

Ray, Benjamin C. Satan and Salem : The Witch-Hunt Crisis of 1692. University of Virginia Press, 2015.