00
:
06
You've
been
accused
of
a
you
did
not
commit
.
It's
impossible
to
your
innocence
.
If
you
insist
that
you're
innocent
anyway
,
you'll
likely
be
found
and
executed
.
But
if
you
,
apologize
,
and
implicate
others
for
good
measure
,
you'll
go
.
Do
you
give
a
false
confession
?
or
risk
a
public
?
00
:
29
This
was
the
choice
facing
those
accused
of
witchcraft
in
the
village
of
Salem
,
between
February
1692
and
May
1693
.
They
were
the
victims
of
paranoia
about
the
supernatural
,
misdirected
religious
fervor
?
and
a
justice
system
that
valued
repentance
over
.
00
:
50
Salem
was
settled
in
1626
by
,
a
group
of
English
protestants
.
Life
was
strict
and
isolated
for
the
people
of
Salem
.
Battles
with
their
Native
American
neighbors
and
groups
of
French
settlers
were
commonplace
.
People
feared
starvation
and
disease
,
and
relations
between
villagers
were
.
To
make
matters
worse
,
1692
brought
one
of
the
coldest
winters
on
record
.
01
:
15
That
winter
,
two
cousins
,
9
year
old
Betty
Parris
and
11
year
old
Abigail
Williams
started
behaving
very
strangely
.
A
physician
found
nothing
physically
wrong
?
but
diagnosed
the
girls
as
under
"
an
evil
.
"
Puritans
believed
that
the
Devil
wreaked
havoc
in
the
world
through
human
agents
,
or
witches
,
who
blighted
nature
,
conjured
fiendish
apparitions
,
and
tormented
children
.
01
:
44
As
news
swept
through
the
village
,
the
symptoms
appeared
to
spread
.
Accounts
describe
12
so
-
called
"
afflicted
"
girls
contorting
their
bodies
,
having
fits
,
and
complaining
of
prickling
skin
.
Four
of
the
girls
soon
accused
three
local
women
of
tormenting
them
.
02
:
04
All
three
of
the
accused
were
considered
in
some
way
.
On
February
29th
,
the
authorities
arrested
Sarah
Good
,
a
poor
pregnant
mother
of
a
young
daughter
,
Sarah
Osbourne
,
who
had
long
been
absent
from
church
and
was
suing
the
family
of
one
of
her
accusers
,
and
Tituba
,
an
enslaved
woman
in
Betty
Parris's
home
known
by
her
first
name
only
.
02
:
27
Tituba
denied
harming
the
girls
at
first
.
But
then
she
confessed
to
practicing
witchcraft
on
the
Devil's
,
and
charged
Good
and
Osbourne
with
having
forced
her
.
Osbourne
and
Good
both
maintained
their
innocence
.
Osbourne
died
in
prison
,
while
Good's
husband
turned
against
her
in
court
,
testifying
that
she
"
was
a
or
would
be
one
very
quickly
.
"
Good's
4
year
old
daughter
was
imprisoned
and
eventually
gave
testimony
against
her
mother
.
Meanwhile
,
Good
gave
birth
in
jail
.
Her
baby
died
,
and
she
was
convicted
and
hanged
shortly
thereafter
.
Tituba
was
held
in
custody
until
May
,
and
then
released
.
03
:
10
These
three
victims
were
just
the
beginning
.
As
accusations
multiplied
,
others
,
like
Tituba
,
made
false
confession
to
save
themselves
.
The
authorities
even
reportedly
told
one
accused
witch
that
she
would
be
hanged
if
she
did
not
confess
,
and
freed
if
she
did
.
They
were
not
particularly
interested
in
thoroughly
investigating
the
charges
?
in
keeping
with
their
teachings
,
they
preferred
that
the
accused
confessed
,
asked
for
,
and
promised
not
to
engage
in
more
witchcraft
.
03
:
42
The
court
accepted
all
kinds
of
dubious
evidence
,
including
so
-
called
"
spectral
evidence
"
in
which
the
girls
began
raving
when
supposedly
touched
by
invisible
.
Complicating
matters
further
,
many
of
the
jurors
in
the
trials
were
relatives
of
the
accusers
,
compromising
their
objectivity
.
04
:
04
Those
who
dared
to
speak
out
,
such
as
Judge
Nathanial
Saltonstall
,
came
under
suspicion
.
By
the
spring
of
1693
,
over
a
hundred
people
had
been
imprisoned
,
and
14
women
and
6
men
had
been
.
By
this
time
,
accusations
were
starting
to
spread
beyond
Salem
to
neighboring
communities
,
and
even
the
most
powerful
were
targets
.
When
his
own
wife
was
accused
,
the
governor
of
Massachusetts
colony
suspended
the
trials
.
Sentences
were
amended
,
prisoners
released
,
and
arrests
.
04
:
38
Some
have
speculated
that
the
girls
were
suffering
from
hallucinations
caused
by
fungus
;
or
a
condition
that
caused
swelling
of
the
brain
.
But
ultimately
,
the
reason
for
their
behavior
is
.
What
we
do
know
is
that
adults
accepted
wild
accusations
by
children
as
hard
evidence
.
Today
,
the
Salem
Witch
Trials
remain
a
cautionary
tale
of
the
dangers
of
groupthink
and
scapegoating
,
and
the
power
of
fear
to
manipulate
human
perception
.
Fill in the blanks to complete the Preamble.