The Salem Witch Trials pt. 1 - Accusations

The Morbid Curiosity Podcast

Hallie Lloyd

Cryptid, Serialkiller, Science, Disease, Medicine, Scary, Skeleton, Historyofmedicine, Social Sciences, Ghost, History, Medical, Anthropology, Monsters, Archeology, Murder, Creepy, Skeptic, Paranormal, Prison

4.8 • 634 Ratings

🗓️ 9 October 2024

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the beginning of 1692, young women in Salem village began experiencing strange symptoms, which were soon blamed on witchcraft. The girls accused three women of bewitching them, but instead of resolving the case, the matter only escalated. More young women were afflicted and more townsfolk were accused, and 19 people were eventually executed.

In this first instalment, Hallie discusses what was going on in Salem when accusations began to fly, who was afflicted, who was accused, and who was hearing the cases.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode was suggested by Marie, Taylor Treat, and Annabelle.
0:05.9	This episode includes discussions of colonialism, religious extremism, and abuse of women and children.
0:13.2	If these topics are triggers for you, this might be a good episode to skip.
0:29.8	Thank you. Good episode to skip. Humans are fascinated by gore and violence, but even more so the mysterious and unsolved.
0:36.6	Interest in these disturbing and unpleasant subjects is called morbid curiosity,
0:41.7	and it has gripped millions of people throughout the ages.
0:45.3	I am one of those people.
0:47.7	My name is Halley, and this is the Morbid Curiosity podcast.
1:22.6	Music The Morbid Curiosity Podcast. Stories of witchcraft accusations, trials and executions of the past have captured the human imagination for centuries. One of the most well-known incidents of mass accusation and execution for witchcraft occurred in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692.
1:32.3	The Salem Witch Trials are so captivating that they've been covered in hundreds of documentaries, books, and podcasts,
1:40.3	and used as a backdrop to tell fictional stories by the hundreds.
1:45.0	Many interpretations have unfortunately taken liberties with the facts, as is often the case in literature and art.
1:52.0	The facts become muddled up with the stories, and some untangling is necessary in order to understand what exactly happened in that small community that
2:01.9	resulted in 19 executions. At the center of the Salem witch trials was a group
2:08.4	of young women ranging in age from 9 to 20 who screamed, writhed, barked, and displayed
2:15.7	other disturbing symptoms, often referred to as the afflicted girls.
2:20.9	They included members of prominent village families as well as domestic servants.
2:26.4	When their fathers, husbands, or employers couldn't find an explanation for their behavior,
2:32.0	witchcraft became the explanation.
2:36.8	Before we dive into the Salem witch trials, a little historical context is needed for both the beliefs surrounding witchcraft
2:42.7	at the time and the history of the Salem area. For a deeper look into the background of both
2:48.8	the afflicted girls and the accused witches, I did an
	...

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