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One of the most well-known cases of paranoia in United States history, the Salem Witch Trials. Throughout the course of history, there have been tales of the "supernatural" such as bigfoot, El Chupacabra, and other mysterious creatures; however, the only one that has been found is the "witch". In a small town in Salem, Massachusetts, widespread panic broke out after two young girls contracted a mysterious illness. After around of a month of this illness, their parents decided to take them to the local minister who deemed this was "witchcraft". Over the course of the next year, the girls and others in the surrounding community turned against each other in fear of being labeled a "witch". The punishment for this label? Death. However, if you admitted to practicing witchcraft, begged for forgiveness for your sins, and pointed out other fellow "witches", you could live. During the span of February 1962 - May 1963, over 200 people were accused of being witches and thirty were found guilty -- nineteen of which were executed by hanging. This map shows the localization of these of witchcraft accusations throughout 1962. If you look closely, you can see a centralized area near the Salem Village. However, the paranoia began to spread to nearby towns and villages such as Topsfield and Ipswich were only a few witchcraft charges were made. These charges and accusations spread as far as Wells where 1 accusation was made. These accusations and charges were held up on the account of spectral evidence, which is evidence that cannot be seen. Thus, making these charges spread even faster. Soon these accusations began to turn into haste and tore the community apart. Eventually, Governor Phips’s wife was accused of being a witch. In what can be assumed as protecting his wife, Phips ruled that spectral evidence would not be able to stand alone in court. Thus, the accusations that were once spreading like wildfire, began dwindling down, until eventually, they came to a stop.
The Salem Witch Trials, infamous for mass paranoia. However, this paranoia was taken to the extreme. Over 200 people were accused of being a witch and thirty were executed because of it. The first of which being Bridget Bishop. Attached is the documentation of the examination of Bridget. During the examination "spectral evidence" was the primary source of information to prove Bishop guilty. Bishop mentions never seeing the four to five people who accused her of being a witch and even that she does not know what a which is; to which the judge says: "How can you know, you are no Witch, & yet not know what a Witch is?". Ironically, it seems as if the judge is playing devil’s advocate to get Bridget to confess to which craft. However, Bishop never confused and was summoned to be executed. On June 10th, Bridget Bishop became the first victim of the Salem Witch trials by way of hanging.
Before the Witch Trials, Bridget Bishop was often seen living a flamboyant lifestyle. This lifestyle most likely caused the town of Salem to begin to dislike her and could be the reason that she was the first victim of the Witch Trials. Another reason of which being her past spouse history. Bishop had been married three time and was rumored to be the cause of her first two husbands’ deaths. Along with this, in 1680, a man by the name of John Ingersoll accused Bishop’s specter (ghost) had pinched him. The last of which being that Bridget seemingly scared horses. This lead up to ten of her neighbors testifying against her in court. Haste soon became a very common theme throughout the trials. Often time the accused had land that was desired by many people, or they were disliked throughout the community. A form of greed and darkness soon took over this town and would not let up for the next year.