Dr. David Childs, D.D., Ph.D.
Northern Kentucky University
Lithograph of witch trial in Salem, Massachusetts. Photograph: Bettmann Archive
Introduction
In light of the recent celebration of Halloween we decided to do an article surrounding witch hunts that have taken place throughout history. A witch-hunt (also called a witch purge) is a historical and global phenomenon, whereby authorities have searched for people who have been accused of being witches. They also might search for evidence (Usually bogus or arbitrary evidence) to prove that the accused was practicing witchcraft. In the United States many people are somewhat familiar with the Salem witchcraft trials but are not aware that witch hunts were a global phenomenon throughout history.
History of Witch-Hunts
The era known as the classical period of witch-hunts took place during Early modern Europe and in Colonial America about 1450 to 1750. The prosecutions reached a highpoint from 1580 to 1630 during the Counter-Reformation and the European wars of religion that resulted in an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 executions. Most people were burned at the stake, roughly 80% of those executed were women, often over the age of 40. The last witch hunt executions in Europe took place during the 1700’s, but other regions of the world such as parts of Africa and Asia have continued the practice.
Witch Burning (1555) Witches Being Burned At The Stake In Germany
A Contemporary German Woodcut Poster Print by (24 x 36)
Salem Witch Trials
In the United States, people are most familiar with the events that took place in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. The Salem witch trials consisted of a series of hearings and prosecutions of more than 200 people accused of witchcraft. Thirty of those accused were found guilty, and nineteen of the thirty were executed by hanging (fourteen women and five men). Books like the classic novel The Crucible have brought more attention to the historical events.
The American imagination has been long fascinated by this time period, as most people are intrigued by the supernatural and the fear of the unknown. In light of this, witch hunts are a wonderful topic to bring to the classroom. Here are some lesson plans and resources teachers can use to help students explore the topic on a deeper level.
Lesson Plans and Teacher Resources
Lesson Plans
Witch-hunts Teacher Resources
Aha! You’re a Witch- Early Modern European Witch-hunts
Salem Witch Trials Lesson Plan
Understanding the Salem Witch Trials
Which of You Is a Witch? The Salem Witchcraft Trials and The Crucible
Salem Witch Trials: Web Supported Lesson Plan
Salem Witch Trials- American Bar Association
History
Salem Witchcraft Trials History
History of Witch Hunts
Salem Witch Hunt Museum
The Witch Craze
Salem Witchcraft Trials History Channel
This article intrigued me for different reasons. The first reason being, like stated in the article, the idea of the supernatural is intriguing. Another reason is that learning about the witch trials is one of the only things that I really remember learning in all of my history courses. The statement that says, “Most people were burned at the stake, roughly 80% of those executed were women, often over the age of 40”, really stuck out to me because there was never a discussion (that I remember) that took place about this statistic in the classroom when I was learning this. I think that presenting this to students is a further way to have a discussion about society’s views of women at the time that the witch trials were occurring and can translate into modern society. Also, comparing cultures of the Salem Witch Trials and others in the U.S. with what occurred in Asia and Africa and is still occurring can be an incorporation into the history of the witch trials.
Adding onto this, I had a teacher in eighth grade who is an African American man who immigrated to the U.S. as a child from Africa and he pointed out to us how he wrote left handed and right handed. He explained that where he is from, if you are left handed then that is considered witchcraft and a “sin” and one could be murdered for just being left handed, so that is why he had to learn to write with his right hand. Anecdotes and first-hand experiences such as this one can be explained to a class and students can reflect upon these.
Great Article! I read “The Crucible” in high school and that’s where my knowledge ends with the Salem Witch Hunt although I know the book is dramatized. I think learning about the with hunt is an important lesson because learning about an event helps us prevent it from happening again. The witch hunts teaches us about how disinformation and mass hysteria could lead to a horrific event, like the deaths of innocent people.
I knew that there were witch hunts around the world but did not know how long they lasted. I can’t believe that these hunts went on for about three hundred years. I was most surprised that these hunts are still going on in Africa and Asia.
I have always been so intrigued by the Salem witch events. However, I had no idea that these events took place in other areas of the world such as Africa and Asia. I remember reading in high school that the Cruicible had a lot of influence on the witch trials. I think this article is very fitting for Halloween, but is a very interesting article anytime of the year.
I have always been interested in witches and why they were such a big issue in our history. I was never taught this information in my elementary years-middle school. It is crazy to think about how different our world was back then, but also seeing similar traits in our society today. It is also very sad to think that random, innocent people lost their lives due to fear of others.
I found this article very interesting because I have always been interested by witches and the trials that have occurred. This is likely because I am a history major and I really like to focus on the time periods between 1500s to about 1850 which is when these trials go on. I like to look at Europe in this period, specifically the United Kingdom region and France. The article mentioned The Crucible as being a major factor in spreading information about the Salem witch trials and I could not agree more. I remember reading it for my Pre-AP English class junior year of high school and it was the first time I had every gone in depth into what the trials were. I feel like you always hear about the witch trials and guess what they were like just by the name, but I had never thought about what lead up to these trials and how people would just make things up and consider it witchcraft.
One of the most interesting things I found in this article was the fact that it mentioned that parts of Asia and Africa continue the practice. I find it so interesting that this is seen as such an arbitrary thing to us now, but there are other parts of the world that still hold these views. That’s not to say one is right or wrong, I just find it interesting that they are so different.
I read The Crucible in high school, and I enjoyed learning about the Salem Witch trials. But the fact that many innocent lives were taken during this time is sad. Thank you for writing about this.
Being a wiccan, I have always struggled a bit when it comes the Salem witch trails. Many of those convicted weren’t really even pagan or had any interest sort of interest in herbology, alchemy, and other colonial studies.
I think many teachers should teach that those convicted weren’t really witches rather they were victims of paranoia.
I enjoy reading anything having to do with witches. I did know that other areas of the world have continued the practice of executing those accused of witchcraft, however I was shocked at the time to learn that something like that, something so vile and unjust, could still be happening in my lifetime.
I learned from this article that witchcraft trials went on for far longer than I had previously thought. I was also unaware that these trails were taking place in Africa and Asia. We’ve learned in school about these trials but not about the expanse of how many people were convicted and executed for this. It is shocking to see that around 40,000-50,000 people could be executed for something when there was little to no evidence of them ever being a witch.