1 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: John Richards was an inspiration. He started out life as 2 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:17,400 Speaker 1: a servant, but as the years would show, he was 3 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:21,160 Speaker 1: born to climb the social ladder. He had a knack 4 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:24,880 Speaker 1: for relationships. It seems, over the course of his life 5 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:28,440 Speaker 1: he made powerful friends. Maybe in his time as a 6 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: servant he overheard enough conversations about the inner workings of 7 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:34,640 Speaker 1: power that he got a feel for the ebb and 8 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:37,199 Speaker 1: flow of it. All. He gained the approval of his 9 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 1: superiors and the respect of his peers. Whatever the case, 10 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 1: John was making a move that few men dared he 11 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 1: was climbing. It didn't hurt that he married into the 12 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:53,239 Speaker 1: Winthrop clan, whose estimable name carried the legacy of a 13 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 1: Puritan leader who had founded it all. But John was 14 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:00,520 Speaker 1: no slouch. He swiftly picked up the skills of favorite 15 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:04,680 Speaker 1: game of the Boston elite, land speculation. He saved up 16 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:07,759 Speaker 1: his money and then began to purchase property, the first 17 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:12,800 Speaker 1: being Aerosick Island off the southern coast of Maine. By 18 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 1: the age of forty eight, he had one of the 19 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: largest property holdings of anyone in Massachusetts. After all of that, 20 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:22,360 Speaker 1: it's safe to say that few individuals in the Boston 21 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 1: establishment were as inspiring as John Richards, but it went 22 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: beyond wealth, or maybe that hard earned fortune unlocked new opportunities. Money, 23 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 1: after all, pairs very nicely with power. Richards served on 24 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:42,920 Speaker 1: the General Court of Massachusetts, that ruling body that guided 25 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:45,679 Speaker 1: the colony. He had served as a judge in a 26 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:49,120 Speaker 1: number of important cases that spanned the church and the state. 27 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:54,400 Speaker 1: In six e and Samuel Sewell had ruled to suspend 28 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:58,360 Speaker 1: a local minister due to foul language and unseemly behavior 29 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: in a tavern that wasn't hypocritical of him either. Richards 30 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 1: was a well respected puritan in his own church, a 31 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:08,919 Speaker 1: church that was led by none other than Cotton Mother, 32 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 1: son of the powerful Increase Mather. He was so respected 33 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 1: that Cotton Mother leaned on Richards for him to help 34 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:20,440 Speaker 1: sway the congregation on important matters. John Richards, you see, 35 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:27,760 Speaker 1: had it all money, power and respect. But this self 36 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:30,640 Speaker 1: made man was about to face the biggest challenges of 37 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:34,799 Speaker 1: his life. The situation in s looked quite dire to 38 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 1: men like John Richards, and like a lot of things 39 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 1: in his life, that all came down to money. Like 40 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 1: so many of his peers, Richards had made his fortune 41 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:47,839 Speaker 1: buying and selling land, frontier land, land on the edge 42 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:50,920 Speaker 1: of the colonies far to the north and Maine, and 43 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:55,200 Speaker 1: that land was being taken away from him. Well, that's 44 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: a bit misleading. The land wasn't really his to begin with. Yes, 45 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,080 Speaker 1: he had purchased stit from the local Native American tribe 46 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:05,359 Speaker 1: known as the Wabanakis, but never at a fair price, 47 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:08,920 Speaker 1: and the Wabanakis didn't care to have their homeland stripped 48 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:11,960 Speaker 1: of timber and mind for copper just to build someone 49 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:15,560 Speaker 1: a grand house hundreds of miles away, so they took 50 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:21,160 Speaker 1: it back. Losing that land to the enemy, literally, allies 51 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:23,600 Speaker 1: of the Devil in the minds of the Puritans, was 52 00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:27,760 Speaker 1: a blow against his lifetime of achievement. And now Satan's 53 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: power was bleeding southward, inching ever closer to the safety 54 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 1: of the Boston area. You have to imagine John Richards 55 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:38,840 Speaker 1: and his wealthy, powerful friends were more than a little nervous, 56 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 1: which is why when word began to spread about an 57 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 1: outbreak of witchcraft in the town of Salem, all of 58 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: them drew a line in the sand. Satan would have 59 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: no more ground. They would stop him to save the 60 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 1: Puritan mission, yes, but also to save their fortunes, but 61 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 1: with dozens of people already in jail and more being 62 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 1: added to their number each day, the clock was ticking. Thankfully, 63 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 1: Governor Phipps had ordered an official trial the Oyer and Terminer, 64 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: and that meant judges were needed. What better place for 65 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: Boston's most powerful to take control than the front of 66 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:56,400 Speaker 1: the courtroom. This is unobscured. I'm Aaron Mankey. When I'm 67 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,919 Speaker 1: trying to explain what the power structure of the colony 68 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:03,719 Speaker 1: was like at the time of the witchcraft crisis, I 69 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:07,880 Speaker 1: am fond of saying the following analogy in the US today, 70 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:12,120 Speaker 1: If the joint chiefs of Staff were also the President's 71 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:15,400 Speaker 1: cabinet and also the judges of the Supreme Court, that's 72 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:19,320 Speaker 1: the power structure of Massachusetts at the time. The same 73 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:23,360 Speaker 1: men were the judges in the trials, and the chief 74 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 1: advisers of the governor, and the men who led the 75 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:31,520 Speaker 1: local militia in the Indian War. So you talk about 76 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:36,080 Speaker 1: consolidation of power there it is. That's Mary Beth Norton, 77 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:40,240 Speaker 1: Professor of American History at Cornell University, and it's a 78 00:05:40,279 --> 00:05:44,000 Speaker 1: powerful picture she paints. The only thing I would add 79 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 1: to her overlapping circles on the ven diagram would be 80 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:50,279 Speaker 1: that not only were these men advisors and military leaders 81 00:05:50,279 --> 00:05:53,200 Speaker 1: and judges, but they were also the wealthiest in the land. 82 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:55,680 Speaker 1: In a day and age when the wealth gap between 83 00:05:55,680 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: the one percent and the rest feels like a canyon, 84 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:03,839 Speaker 1: these men from teen two sound awfully familiar. Each of 85 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:06,480 Speaker 1: them had built a fortune through a combination of land 86 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:10,599 Speaker 1: speculation and the exploitation of that land. Some of them 87 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 1: own mills in the frontier country to the north, which 88 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: provided some of the prime exports of the colonies. Others 89 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: parceled out their massive tracks of land, earning a fortune 90 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:24,280 Speaker 1: off the smaller sales. But while they all seem to 91 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:26,720 Speaker 1: be cut from the same cloth and most of them 92 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:29,479 Speaker 1: held a lot of the same positions of power, it's 93 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:32,479 Speaker 1: important to note that the events of six two would 94 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:35,400 Speaker 1: test them to the limit. Some of these men would 95 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 1: seize the reins of the crisis and drive it towards 96 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:41,800 Speaker 1: its bloody conclusion. Others would take a more passive role, 97 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:45,520 Speaker 1: their names barely mentioned in the court documents, preferring instead 98 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:48,400 Speaker 1: to watch from the passenger seat while the victims get 99 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:53,400 Speaker 1: trampled by injustice. So who were the nine judges of 100 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:57,119 Speaker 1: the Oyer and Terminer trial. Some of them you've already met, 101 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 1: such as John Richards, John Hawthorne, and Jonathan Corwin. The 102 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:07,479 Speaker 1: others were Peter Sargent, Samuel Sewell Wait Still Winthrop, Bartholomew Gedney, 103 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 1: and Nathaniel Saltonstall. Which is eight not nine, and that's 104 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:14,880 Speaker 1: on purpose because I want to share their leader with 105 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 1: you in more detail. The man who would lead the 106 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 1: Court of Oyer and Terminer as chief magistrate, presiding over 107 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:25,240 Speaker 1: the other eight judges was none other than the Massachusetts 108 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:29,800 Speaker 1: Lieutenant Governor himself, William Stoughton. WILLIAMS. Stonton is a ghost character, 109 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:34,400 Speaker 1: one of my least favorite people. That's Emerson Baker, professor 110 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 1: of history at Salem State University. William Stoughton might have 111 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:41,320 Speaker 1: put on a humble front, but he was just like 112 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:44,840 Speaker 1: the rest of the judges, filthy, rich, and deeply embedded 113 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:48,480 Speaker 1: in powerful circles. Stoughton had managed to trick the Native 114 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:52,320 Speaker 1: Americans of western Massachusetts into selling him over a million 115 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: acres of their land, which he then proceeded to cut 116 00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:58,440 Speaker 1: up and sell in pieces for massive profit. It was 117 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 1: so successful that he repeat of the process in Connecticut 118 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 1: a short while later, and he was using his political 119 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:09,120 Speaker 1: positions to make it all happen, enriching himself through his 120 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:13,920 Speaker 1: public office. Taking it all into account, William Stoughton seems 121 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:16,520 Speaker 1: to have been a man focused purely on his own 122 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:19,680 Speaker 1: advancement of power and wealth, and he was willing to 123 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 1: be ruthless to get it done. The coup that had 124 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 1: ended the rule of Governor Andrews had set him back 125 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:28,680 Speaker 1: a bit, but thanks to his connections, he landed on 126 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:32,920 Speaker 1: his feet and managed to secure a place alongside Governor Phipps, 127 00:08:32,920 --> 00:08:35,680 Speaker 1: a position he was now about to use to deliver 128 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 1: hard justice to the people of Salem. If it's not 129 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:44,760 Speaker 1: already clear, this group of wealthy and interconnected power players 130 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:48,760 Speaker 1: were accustomed to the comfort and stability of their high positions, 131 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:52,440 Speaker 1: but in six they were shaking in their boots. The 132 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:55,400 Speaker 1: New Charter had only just arrived and their future was 133 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:59,720 Speaker 1: still uncertain, and all the while, Wabanaki forces were advancing 134 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 1: as Maine and western Massachusetts, wiping out their personal fortunes. 135 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,640 Speaker 1: The witches of Salem were the closest thing these men 136 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 1: could find to its target upon which they might vent 137 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:15,800 Speaker 1: their frustration. The Catholic French and their heathen Native American 138 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 1: allies were all agents of the devil, sure, but so 139 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: were the witches of Salem. While the battles to the 140 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 1: west and north were less within their control, nothing was 141 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:28,200 Speaker 1: standing in their way to strike a decisive blow to 142 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:33,080 Speaker 1: these new enemies that threatened the Puritan mission. The first 143 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:36,040 Speaker 1: step was to assemble the jurors, which was done on 144 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:40,360 Speaker 1: more importantly, though, they needed a prosecutor to bring those 145 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:43,480 Speaker 1: minions of Satan to trial, and for that job they 146 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 1: turned to a man named Thomas Newton. He was a 147 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:50,120 Speaker 1: lawyer trained in English law who was currently practicing in Boston, 148 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:53,840 Speaker 1: and he had a track record for ruthlessly pursuing the 149 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:59,080 Speaker 1: very thing that the judges needed, convictions. He would bring 150 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:01,520 Speaker 1: the cases before or the group of judges in the 151 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:04,520 Speaker 1: presence of the jury, and then a decision would be 152 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:07,440 Speaker 1: made for each. But rather than beginning with those who 153 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:10,120 Speaker 1: had been waiting the longest, or even those who were 154 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:13,880 Speaker 1: the most prominent in the community, Newton chose instead to 155 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:17,760 Speaker 1: start with his best chance of landing in early victory. 156 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:22,280 Speaker 1: Salem's new oyer and terminal trial would begin with the 157 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 1: charges brought against just one person, bridget Bishop. If bridget 158 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:37,520 Speaker 1: Bishop's name sounds familiar, that's because we briefly discussed her 159 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:41,920 Speaker 1: examination in episode four that said she has a powerful 160 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:46,560 Speaker 1: story that requires a bit more exploration. Then honestly, if 161 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:49,559 Speaker 1: we can't slow down and unveil the humanity behind a 162 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:53,520 Speaker 1: list of names, we're missing the point. Bridget story is 163 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:59,120 Speaker 1: her own, but at the same time it's everyone's. Bridget's 164 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:02,320 Speaker 1: journey to the New World had begun painfully. She had 165 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:05,120 Speaker 1: married a man named Samuel in England, and the couple 166 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:09,280 Speaker 1: swiftly became parents. But sometimes joy is as fleeting as 167 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:12,200 Speaker 1: the morning fog, and that newborn infant and died before 168 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:15,960 Speaker 1: it could thrive. A short time later, Samuel passed away 169 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:21,680 Speaker 1: as well, leaving Bridget alone, well, not exactly. She was 170 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:25,240 Speaker 1: pregnant with their second child, which was at once both 171 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 1: hopeful and sad. This child would never know its father 172 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:32,679 Speaker 1: or older sibling. It was a lot of darkness for 173 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:35,680 Speaker 1: one person to deal with, which might explain why Bridget 174 00:11:35,679 --> 00:11:38,720 Speaker 1: boarded a ship bound for the New World. Maybe she 175 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:43,160 Speaker 1: just wanted to escape it all. She arrived in Boston 176 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:45,960 Speaker 1: in sixteen sixty four, and a short while later she 177 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:49,400 Speaker 1: gave birth for the second time in her life. This child, 178 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:52,720 Speaker 1: just like her first, failed to thrive, and when it 179 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:55,880 Speaker 1: was over, Bridget had no one, no one to care for, 180 00:11:56,280 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 1: no one to care for her alone in a strange 181 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:04,319 Speaker 1: new land. She was lost two years later, though she 182 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:08,240 Speaker 1: married again. Her new husband, Thomas Oliver, seemed like a 183 00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:11,840 Speaker 1: good man. He, like her, had lost a spouse, although 184 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:15,120 Speaker 1: the details were far different from her own. Thomas had 185 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:17,720 Speaker 1: three grown children, and his wife had been known to 186 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:21,600 Speaker 1: be a troublemaker, always insulting him and the people around them. 187 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:24,320 Speaker 1: Perhaps a fresh start was what both of them needed. 188 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:28,640 Speaker 1: It wasn't idyllic, though. Thomas turned out to be an 189 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:31,600 Speaker 1: abusive husband, perhaps shedding a bit of light on why 190 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:35,360 Speaker 1: he and his first wife quarreled so often. Soon Bridget 191 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:39,000 Speaker 1: and Thomas had their own version of that reputation, although 192 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:41,400 Speaker 1: most of the rumors and reports had to do with 193 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:46,440 Speaker 1: the physical abuse that he heaped upon her. One neighbor, 194 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:50,200 Speaker 1: Mary Ropes, later testified that she often saw Bridget with 195 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:53,160 Speaker 1: a bloody face or covered in black and blue marks. 196 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:57,040 Speaker 1: When the authorities got involved in sixteen seventy, they ordered 197 00:12:57,080 --> 00:13:00,560 Speaker 1: both of them to be whipped publicly, ten stripes a piece, 198 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:04,160 Speaker 1: they said, and then find for their behavior. They took 199 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:07,720 Speaker 1: their beating and They paid their fine, but the trouble continued. 200 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:12,720 Speaker 1: Seven years later, they were in court again. Bridget was 201 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:16,760 Speaker 1: an abused woman fighting for her dignity and safety. Thomas 202 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:19,720 Speaker 1: was a smooth, talking wife beater in a society that 203 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:23,760 Speaker 1: elevated men high above the station of women, so naturally 204 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:27,400 Speaker 1: his deeds never went on record, while Bridget's behavior was 205 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:32,440 Speaker 1: seeing as stubborn, disobedient, and offensive. Despite that, both of 206 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:35,560 Speaker 1: them were punished again, and in the most public and 207 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:39,680 Speaker 1: humiliating way possible. They were forced to stand in the 208 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:42,800 Speaker 1: public market place with their backs to each other. Both 209 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:45,560 Speaker 1: of them were gagged to keep them silent, and each 210 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:48,319 Speaker 1: had a note tied to their forehead describing their crimes. 211 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:52,480 Speaker 1: Thomas's adult daughter paid the fine to have her father released, 212 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:57,040 Speaker 1: but Bridget was left to suffer the humiliation alone. She 213 00:13:57,120 --> 00:13:59,839 Speaker 1: suffered more than that, though, in the eyes of the 214 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:02,720 Speaker 1: people around her, any woman with the tenacity to call 215 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:06,079 Speaker 1: her husband an old devil most certainly had a bit 216 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:10,200 Speaker 1: of familiarity with the devil himself. As a result, people 217 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:14,280 Speaker 1: began to whisper that Bridget was a witch. Years before 218 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: the afflicted girls would claim to see spectral images of 219 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 1: their attackers. People in Salem were claiming to see Bridget 220 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:25,000 Speaker 1: in their own homes, and these visions were linked to 221 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:28,800 Speaker 1: unfortunate events. One man claimed to see Bridget spirit in 222 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:32,640 Speaker 1: his home right before his infant daughter passed away. Another 223 00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:35,560 Speaker 1: man claimed Bridget had paid him for some labor, but 224 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:39,600 Speaker 1: the money later vanished from his pocket. Yet another person 225 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:41,960 Speaker 1: claimed to see her perched high up on a beam 226 00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:47,480 Speaker 1: in his barn, holding a stolen egg. These rumors in 227 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:51,360 Speaker 1: our own society today would never mature beyond that point, 228 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:54,280 Speaker 1: but in the world of the Puritans, they were dark 229 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 1: and ominous seeds that grew over time. In the winter 230 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:00,840 Speaker 1: of sixteen seventy nine, Bridget was charged with witchcraft and 231 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:04,080 Speaker 1: ordered to appear before the Court of Assistants in Boston. 232 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:07,400 Speaker 1: She paid her bond and waited for a trial date, 233 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:12,920 Speaker 1: but for whatever reason, the date never arrived. Thomas, the wife, 234 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:16,960 Speaker 1: beat her, died in sixteen seventy nine, leaving Bridget alone again, 235 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:19,520 Speaker 1: Although that might have been the first time in her life, 236 00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:22,280 Speaker 1: she was glad to see a husband die, but as 237 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:25,920 Speaker 1: death left her responsible for his outstanding debts, and she 238 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:28,600 Speaker 1: spent the next six years in legal battles trying to 239 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:34,240 Speaker 1: take care of everyone demanding repayments. Then in sight, she 240 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:38,240 Speaker 1: met Edward Bishop. Edward had worked most of his life 241 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:40,720 Speaker 1: at one of the sawmills in Salem, but he also 242 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:43,200 Speaker 1: owned a bit of land in Salem Village, out on 243 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:46,400 Speaker 1: the north side of the territory. After their marriage, the 244 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:49,200 Speaker 1: couple tore down the house Thomas had left Bridget in 245 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:52,880 Speaker 1: Salem Town and constructed a tavern in its place, which 246 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:58,160 Speaker 1: was managed and operated by Edward's son, Edward Jr. Life 247 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:00,800 Speaker 1: was supposed to get better for Bridget. She had found 248 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:03,360 Speaker 1: a new husband and they had a promising future in 249 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:07,080 Speaker 1: front of them. No, it wasn't a path to immense riches, 250 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:09,600 Speaker 1: but it was better than a life of abuse and debt. 251 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:12,840 Speaker 1: Bridget just wanted to move on from the failings of 252 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:16,200 Speaker 1: her past and try to make a new start. Sadly, 253 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:20,920 Speaker 1: the community around her wasn't going to play along. Edward 254 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:23,840 Speaker 1: Junior and his wife Sarah brought some of that trouble 255 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:27,040 Speaker 1: back into her life. At one point, a neighbor woman 256 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:30,160 Speaker 1: got fed up with the loud and disorderly behavior taking 257 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:33,520 Speaker 1: place at the new Bishop tavern, and she confronted Edward Junr. 258 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:37,800 Speaker 1: About it. Immediately after that, this neighbor woman fell ill, 259 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:41,720 Speaker 1: She had seizures and spoke of wanting to die, all 260 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:46,840 Speaker 1: while her family watched helplessly. A month later, this woman 261 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:49,400 Speaker 1: was dead by her own hand. She had managed to 262 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:51,960 Speaker 1: obtain a pair of sharp scissors, which she used to 263 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:55,120 Speaker 1: stab herself in the side of the throat. Sarah Bishop, 264 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:58,640 Speaker 1: Bridget's daughter in law, didn't get charged with witchcraft, as 265 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:01,440 Speaker 1: we might expect from the stories like this, but people 266 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:06,639 Speaker 1: certainly did take notice. Sometime after her marriage to Edward, 267 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:09,720 Speaker 1: Bridget was arrested for theft and served three months in 268 00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:12,399 Speaker 1: jail before being charged with the crime and forced to 269 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:15,480 Speaker 1: pay a large fine. It had only been a small 270 00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:18,640 Speaker 1: piece of brass hardware, but it was enough to ruin 271 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:23,520 Speaker 1: her reputation for good. Bridget had lost two children and 272 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:27,040 Speaker 1: a husband, only to find herself in an abuse of marriage. 273 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:30,520 Speaker 1: She had fought back for her safety and her dignity, 274 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:34,480 Speaker 1: only to be branded as a disobedient and outspoken woman. 275 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:38,520 Speaker 1: Now this, whether it was true or not, this theft 276 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:43,040 Speaker 1: and conviction was the final straw in everyone's mind. If 277 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:46,720 Speaker 1: any woman in Salem Village was a witch, it was Bridget. 278 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:51,280 Speaker 1: To a career prosecutor like Thomas Newton, Bridget offered a 279 00:17:51,359 --> 00:17:53,919 Speaker 1: chance to begin the court of oyer and terminer on 280 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:57,280 Speaker 1: a strong note. Yes, she was one of dozens who 281 00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:00,600 Speaker 1: had been dragged before the magistrates for months, and each 282 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:04,000 Speaker 1: of them possessed their own dark past and social baggage. 283 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:07,920 Speaker 1: But Bridget Bishop was the key that Newton would use 284 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:13,119 Speaker 1: to unlock the floodgates justice. If we can fool ourselves 285 00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:17,160 Speaker 1: into calling it that was about to flow like a river. 286 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: Newton began by requesting just eight of the prisoners be 287 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:30,520 Speaker 1: transferred up from the Boston jail to Salem Town. He 288 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:33,520 Speaker 1: explained that while yes, there were a lot more people 289 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:36,440 Speaker 1: awaiting trial, it was going to be a slow, tedious 290 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:40,560 Speaker 1: process working through all of them. The afflicted were sometimes 291 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:44,720 Speaker 1: disruptive and the cases were complex, so eight would be 292 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:48,879 Speaker 1: all he needed for in the first week. Bridget would 293 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:52,240 Speaker 1: be his first. Of course, his case didn't rest entirely 294 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:56,000 Speaker 1: on old events and accusations. There were fresh stories about 295 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:58,399 Speaker 1: Bridget that helped move her to the front of the line. 296 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:02,320 Speaker 1: Mercy Lewis and Annie Putnam both had claimed to see 297 00:19:02,359 --> 00:19:05,600 Speaker 1: Bridget spirit in their home. They stated, as if it 298 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:09,439 Speaker 1: were indisputable fact, that she had bewitched her second husband, 299 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:13,480 Speaker 1: Thomas to death. It was damning evidence given the circumstances, 300 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:17,840 Speaker 1: but Bridget had also lied to the magistrates, and that 301 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:20,720 Speaker 1: didn't help her case. When they asked her if she 302 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:23,240 Speaker 1: was a witch, she denied it and claimed that she 303 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:26,199 Speaker 1: didn't even know what a witch was. She also claimed 304 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:29,000 Speaker 1: she hadn't known anyone else confessed to being agents of 305 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:32,320 Speaker 1: the devil, but that wasn't exactly true. On the morning 306 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:35,040 Speaker 1: of her examination back in April, she had been told 307 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:38,800 Speaker 1: that Abigail Hobbs and Mary Warren had confessed, and if 308 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:42,000 Speaker 1: Bridget was willing to lie about that, what else was 309 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: she lying about. It was all word games. It was 310 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:48,880 Speaker 1: all a classic example of Bridget being considered guilty even 311 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:53,320 Speaker 1: before she was examined on April nineteenth, six two. Nothing 312 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:56,080 Speaker 1: she could say would change the public perception of her. 313 00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:58,880 Speaker 1: All she could do was deny it as each question 314 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:02,520 Speaker 1: was fired at her one by one. I am innocent. 315 00:20:03,359 --> 00:20:08,760 Speaker 1: I am innocent. I am innocent. It didn't help her. 316 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 1: She had been carted off to jail on April nineteenth 317 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:14,359 Speaker 1: and remained there for a month and a half. Every 318 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:17,320 Speaker 1: day new accused arrived to join her. In the small, 319 00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:21,480 Speaker 1: filthy room, she watched the constables drop off Sarah Wilds, 320 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:25,000 Speaker 1: a woman from Topsfield with a very similar story to Bridgets. 321 00:20:25,359 --> 00:20:27,520 Speaker 1: She was even there long enough to see her stepson, 322 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:30,960 Speaker 1: Edward Jr. And his wife Sarah, added to the already 323 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:36,119 Speaker 1: overflowing jail. On June one, Thomas Newton's request for the 324 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:40,400 Speaker 1: transfer of eight prisoners was put into action. Bridget Bishop, 325 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:44,480 Speaker 1: along with John and Elizabeth Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, John Willard, 326 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:47,720 Speaker 1: Sarah Good, and two others were all placed in a 327 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:51,480 Speaker 1: wagon and carted north to Salem Town. While they rode north, 328 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:54,879 Speaker 1: another group of freshly accused were being sent south to 329 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:58,040 Speaker 1: Boston to take their place in the jail. It must 330 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:01,639 Speaker 1: have been maddening to everyone involved. Rather than making headway, 331 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:07,000 Speaker 1: they were just treading water and barely staying afloat. Well 332 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:11,119 Speaker 1: maddening to most. Some of the people making decisions seemed 333 00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:14,680 Speaker 1: to lack any sense of compassion or common decency at all. 334 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:17,960 Speaker 1: Remember Sarah Good, one of the first women to be 335 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:21,120 Speaker 1: accused and carted off to jail. Her four year old 336 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:24,760 Speaker 1: daughter Dorothy was eventually accused as well, and together they 337 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,160 Speaker 1: had been waiting for their trial in the Boston jail. 338 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:30,600 Speaker 1: But when the constables transported Sarah Good and the others 339 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:33,919 Speaker 1: to sail in town on June one. They left Dorothy behind, 340 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:37,679 Speaker 1: a four year old girl, alone and afraid in a 341 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:42,280 Speaker 1: crowded room full of equally frightened strangers. It was abhorrent, 342 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:45,040 Speaker 1: but it didn't even cross their mind as the wrong 343 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:48,479 Speaker 1: thing to do. There were bigger wrongs that needed writing. 344 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:51,359 Speaker 1: As far as they were concerned, what difference did it 345 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:54,399 Speaker 1: make if the authorities had separated a mother and her child, 346 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:57,359 Speaker 1: so long as they were wrapped securely in the blankets 347 00:21:57,359 --> 00:22:02,600 Speaker 1: of moral superiority and justification. So as you might imagine, 348 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:06,240 Speaker 1: those eight prisoners rode north with a lot of emotional baggage. 349 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:09,960 Speaker 1: They were afraid for sure. This was the first official trial, 350 00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:13,640 Speaker 1: not some simple examination. The court could make a decision 351 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:16,360 Speaker 1: that would impact their very lives, and that was more 352 00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:19,600 Speaker 1: than enough reason to feel fear and stress. But there 353 00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:24,000 Speaker 1: was more. They were all frustrated as well. You see. 354 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:27,280 Speaker 1: Back in April, Hawthorn and Corwin had visited the Salem 355 00:22:27,359 --> 00:22:30,480 Speaker 1: jail to question Mary Warren, one of the accusers, who 356 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:33,359 Speaker 1: had confessed her guilt. As the others in the jail 357 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:37,399 Speaker 1: listened from a distance, Mary recanted her confession, denying that 358 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:40,520 Speaker 1: she was ever a witch, and she went further. She 359 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:43,160 Speaker 1: claimed that the visions she had described had been nothing 360 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:45,959 Speaker 1: more than stories she made up to distract the authorities. 361 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:50,000 Speaker 1: It was a bombshell if it was true. Some of 362 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:53,040 Speaker 1: the people awaiting trial and jail were doing so purely 363 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:55,880 Speaker 1: on the testimony of Mary Warren, and she had been 364 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:59,760 Speaker 1: overheard telling Hawthorne and Corwin that her testimony was all alive. 365 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:03,679 Speaker 1: So the prisoners mobilized. One of the wealthiest among them, 366 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:07,200 Speaker 1: a woman named Mary English, organized these prisoners a group 367 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:10,720 Speaker 1: that included Edward Bishop Junior and his wife Sarah, and 368 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:14,639 Speaker 1: helped them write a joint statement. If Mary Warren's testimony 369 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:17,720 Speaker 1: was false, then they should all be released and sent home. 370 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:21,639 Speaker 1: Then Yet here they were writing in a wagon toward 371 00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:24,640 Speaker 1: the court of Oyer and Terminer and their final judgment. 372 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:28,080 Speaker 1: We know the magistrates received the statement. It's one of 373 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:31,240 Speaker 1: the few documents that survived to this day. But whether 374 00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:34,400 Speaker 1: or not they even read it, let alone consider the request, 375 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:38,439 Speaker 1: is up for debate. The trials, even those for the 376 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:44,159 Speaker 1: people accused by Mary Warren, continued to march forward unchanged. Now, 377 00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:46,399 Speaker 1: if we're looking for a reason why we don't have 378 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:49,600 Speaker 1: to go far beyond their Puritan mission. They had settled 379 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:52,359 Speaker 1: there decades earlier to build a city on a hill, 380 00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:56,080 Speaker 1: a shining example of God's kingdom on earth. But the 381 00:23:56,119 --> 00:23:58,919 Speaker 1: devil wanted to tear all of that to the ground. 382 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:02,679 Speaker 1: Things like false test ctimonies and lying prisoners were small 383 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:05,399 Speaker 1: matters when held up to the larger safety of the 384 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:10,120 Speaker 1: Puritan utopia they dreamt of. The day before the trials 385 00:24:10,119 --> 00:24:13,040 Speaker 1: were to begin, that mission was driven home for a 386 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:17,320 Speaker 1: few of the presiding judges. Peter, Sergeant Samuel Sewell, and 387 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:20,679 Speaker 1: still Wait Winthrop all sat in their seats at Boston's 388 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:23,720 Speaker 1: Third Church that morning and listen to the minister. Samuel 389 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:26,560 Speaker 1: Willard preached from the Book of First Peter, chapter five. 390 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:32,320 Speaker 1: Be sober, be vigilant, It says, because your adversary, the Devil, 391 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:38,960 Speaker 1: as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Then, 392 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:42,600 Speaker 1: wanting to drive the point home, Willard issued his own 393 00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:46,360 Speaker 1: personal warnings. He told the congregation that because God had 394 00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:49,840 Speaker 1: banished the fallen angels from heaven, our world was full 395 00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:54,760 Speaker 1: of invisible forces bent on our destruction. These invisible powers 396 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:58,160 Speaker 1: can assume any shape they desire, and they have enlisted 397 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:03,040 Speaker 1: evil people among us to do the work of the devil. Translation, 398 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:14,800 Speaker 1: prepare yourselves, we're about to go to war. M Sergeant 399 00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:18,320 Speaker 1: Sewell and Winthrop weren't the only judges to receive messages 400 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:21,960 Speaker 1: from the church that weekend. John Richards, that self made 401 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:24,560 Speaker 1: man who started out life as a servant only to 402 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:27,120 Speaker 1: become one of the most powerful men in the colony, 403 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:32,160 Speaker 1: received a letter from his own minister Cotton Mother. Neither 404 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:35,040 Speaker 1: offered a laundry list of advice for Richards to follow 405 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:37,359 Speaker 1: in the weeks to come. He told him not to 406 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:42,119 Speaker 1: lay more stress upon pure specter testimony than it will bear. 407 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:45,840 Speaker 1: Noticed that he didn't tell Richard's that stories about the 408 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:49,000 Speaker 1: specters of which is were invalid as we might expect, 409 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:52,040 Speaker 1: just that he shouldn't rely too much on them. It 410 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:55,199 Speaker 1: was advice that seemed to legitimize something no sane person 411 00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:59,720 Speaker 1: should accept as fact. Neither went on which is He 412 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:03,480 Speaker 1: told him shouldn't be able to recite the Lord's prayer correctly. 413 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:06,320 Speaker 1: They should be on the lookout for poppets, a sort 414 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:09,960 Speaker 1: of doll used by witches to focus spells on another person. 415 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:13,920 Speaker 1: He also told Richards that another great source of physical 416 00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:18,520 Speaker 1: evidence was witches marks witches marks were also known as 417 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,719 Speaker 1: witches teats and were supposed to be physical marks that 418 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:25,880 Speaker 1: showed exactly where the witch would suckle. They're familiar, even 419 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:28,600 Speaker 1: though men could also have them. It was a concept 420 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:33,000 Speaker 1: that played into the female centric hatred that consumed witchcraft panics. 421 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:37,200 Speaker 1: These marks could be anything though dark spots on the skin, 422 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:42,000 Speaker 1: large freckles, skin tags, even moles. As you can imagine, 423 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:45,119 Speaker 1: most people had something on their body to worry about 424 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:49,840 Speaker 1: when viewed through such a lens. Neither closed out his 425 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:52,520 Speaker 1: letter to Richards by suggesting that the best evidence of 426 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:55,679 Speaker 1: all that they could find would be physical manifestations of 427 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:59,760 Speaker 1: spectral origins, which seemed to contradict his earlier warning not 428 00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:03,640 Speaker 1: to lean too much on the spectral evidence. If Richard's 429 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:06,880 Speaker 1: and the other judges noticed the contradiction, we don't see 430 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:10,680 Speaker 1: evidence of that. In fact, they clearly adopted Mather's list 431 00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:15,119 Speaker 1: of proof in the weeks and months to come. On 432 00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:18,720 Speaker 1: June two, William Stoughton, in his role as chief judge 433 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:21,800 Speaker 1: for the trial, called the Court of Oyer and Terminer 434 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:25,960 Speaker 1: into session. Thomas Newton was sworn in as Attorney General, 435 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 1: and Stephen Sewell as the Clerk of the Court. The 436 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:33,119 Speaker 1: grand jury met and discussed their task. While witnesses for 437 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:36,480 Speaker 1: later cases were called to testify, They were laying out 438 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:39,600 Speaker 1: the good silver, so to speak, setting the table for 439 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:43,360 Speaker 1: the feast that was about to be served. While all 440 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:46,000 Speaker 1: of this was going on, the suspects were split up 441 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:50,160 Speaker 1: to be examined by smaller juries. John Proctor and John Willard, 442 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:53,640 Speaker 1: that former constable who had tried to escape, both had 443 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:56,080 Speaker 1: their bodies search for which is marks by a group 444 00:27:56,080 --> 00:28:00,000 Speaker 1: of men, but they were unsuccessful. The ladies were examined 445 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:02,480 Speaker 1: by group of women for the same reason, and the 446 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:07,320 Speaker 1: results were much more fruitful. Bridget Bishop, Rebecca Nurse, and 447 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:12,359 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Proctor all showed signs of witches marks. Maybe because 448 00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:15,159 Speaker 1: the other women didn't, Their examiners went back for a 449 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:18,520 Speaker 1: second look a couple of hours later. This time they 450 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:21,320 Speaker 1: found nothing, though, and while you and I might chalk 451 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:23,760 Speaker 1: that up to human error or a trick of the light, 452 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:27,119 Speaker 1: these women assumed it was because diabolical marks have the 453 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:31,160 Speaker 1: power to disappear and reappear at will, because of course 454 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:36,160 Speaker 1: they do. Finally, Bridget Bishop was brought forward to meet 455 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:39,440 Speaker 1: Thomas Newton and the team of judges. She stood before 456 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:42,800 Speaker 1: them in silence as witness after witness was brought in 457 00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:46,400 Speaker 1: to speak to her character. Each person brought a mixture 458 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:50,120 Speaker 1: of old stories of her rough and disobedient ways and 459 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:53,920 Speaker 1: new stories of seeing her with devilish little creatures or 460 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:58,440 Speaker 1: spectral attacks. The most unusual witness that day had to 461 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:01,120 Speaker 1: have been the builders who had helped tear down bridgets 462 00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:05,360 Speaker 1: old Salem town home. According to them, poppets were found 463 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:08,000 Speaker 1: in holes in the walls of the building. They were 464 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,240 Speaker 1: crafted of rags and hog bristles and needles had been 465 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:14,800 Speaker 1: shoved through their bodies. It was proof, they said, that 466 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:19,880 Speaker 1: something unnatural had gone on inside that house. After all 467 00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:23,320 Speaker 1: of the witnesses and evidence were presented, the judges charged 468 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:30,640 Speaker 1: Bridget with her crimes. She had an I quote tortured, afflicted, pined, consumed, wasted, 469 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:37,240 Speaker 1: and tormented five individuals Mercy Lewis, Abigail Williams, Elizabeth Hubbard, 470 00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:41,520 Speaker 1: Annie Putnam, and Mary Walcott. To make it official, the 471 00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:46,040 Speaker 1: judges wrote up five separate indictments. This wasn't the end 472 00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:49,680 Speaker 1: for her, not yet. At least an indictment was a 473 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:54,400 Speaker 1: charge an accusation. Essentially, the judges were declaring that, yes, 474 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:58,040 Speaker 1: a crime had been committed. Now, all that was left 475 00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:00,960 Speaker 1: was for the jury to decide whether Bridget Bishop was 476 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:05,560 Speaker 1: guilty or not. Much later, Cotton Mather would write that 477 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:08,960 Speaker 1: the jury had no trouble determining her guilt. He wrote 478 00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:13,240 Speaker 1: that her crimes had been evident and notorious to all beholders, 479 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:16,120 Speaker 1: and then went on to discuss the spectral evidence that 480 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:19,800 Speaker 1: had been key in the decision. Her conviction was a 481 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:23,080 Speaker 1: house of cards built out of invisible attackers, which is 482 00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:26,880 Speaker 1: marks that weren't there, a turbulent past, and the hearsay 483 00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:31,760 Speaker 1: of a handful of teenage girls. Yet somehow it stood. 484 00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:36,160 Speaker 1: Of course, Thomas Newton was in charge of presenting all 485 00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:38,800 Speaker 1: of those pieces to the grand jury. He would have 486 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:41,720 Speaker 1: picked the most convincing bits and left out the parts 487 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:44,479 Speaker 1: that were more difficult to believe. He knew what he 488 00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:47,480 Speaker 1: was doing, of course, and that's why it worked. He 489 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:50,080 Speaker 1: had set out to begin the Oyer and Terminer with 490 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:54,360 Speaker 1: a victory, and that seemed to be headed his way. 491 00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:59,680 Speaker 1: After this symphony of accusations artfully constructed by one of 492 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:02,480 Speaker 1: the fine mis legal minds and the colonies, the last 493 00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:05,360 Speaker 1: step was to give Bridget a chance to speak for herself. 494 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:10,360 Speaker 1: We don't know what she said in her own defense. Honestly, 495 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:12,600 Speaker 1: what could she have said beyond the words she had 496 00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:16,800 Speaker 1: muttered at her examination back in April? I am innocent. 497 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:21,360 Speaker 1: I am innocent. And we don't know what the court's 498 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:24,320 Speaker 1: response was that day. All we know is that she 499 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:27,440 Speaker 1: was moved to the Salem jail to await the final verdict. 500 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:31,880 Speaker 1: But weight must have felt like an eternity to considering 501 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:36,160 Speaker 1: what the stakes were. Would she die or would she 502 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:45,160 Speaker 1: be allowed to go free. Of all the documents that 503 00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:48,720 Speaker 1: still survive from the Salem witch trials, the official oyer 504 00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:52,880 Speaker 1: and termin or records are not among them. Most historians 505 00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:56,880 Speaker 1: don't consider them lost either. They were most likely destroyed 506 00:31:56,920 --> 00:31:59,840 Speaker 1: in the aftermath, like a criminal might burn down a 507 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:04,240 Speaker 1: house to hide the murder scene inside it. Because of that, 508 00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:07,480 Speaker 1: we don't know how Thomas Newton built his case, and 509 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:11,000 Speaker 1: we don't know how Bridget responded. What we do know, though, 510 00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:13,640 Speaker 1: is that it took the jury six days to issue 511 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:18,320 Speaker 1: their verdict. On June eighth, while he was in Boston 512 00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:21,800 Speaker 1: for a meeting of the Governor's General Court, William Stoughton 513 00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:26,520 Speaker 1: announced the court's decision. Bridget Bishop had been found guilty 514 00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:29,680 Speaker 1: of all charges and was to be sentenced to death. 515 00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:34,480 Speaker 1: The warrants also named the date of her execution. It 516 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:37,360 Speaker 1: would take place just two days later, on June tenth. 517 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:41,720 Speaker 1: Her executioner would be George Corwin, the sheriff of Essex 518 00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:45,200 Speaker 1: County and the nephew of both Jonathan Corwin and wait 519 00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:50,960 Speaker 1: Still Winthrop. But there was more news that day. Nathaniel Saltonstall, 520 00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:53,920 Speaker 1: one of the nine judges on the oyer and terminer 521 00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:58,080 Speaker 1: and the man respected throughout Massachusetts for his strong convictions 522 00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:01,680 Speaker 1: and sense of right and wrong, announced his displeasure at 523 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:04,440 Speaker 1: the way the case had gone. We don't have a 524 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:07,640 Speaker 1: record of his exact words, but we know what he did. 525 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:13,520 Speaker 1: He walked away one case into the process. Saltonstall recognized 526 00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:18,120 Speaker 1: it for the circus it was, and he quit. Sadly, 527 00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:21,360 Speaker 1: that didn't stop the march of time, and on June tenth, 528 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:24,600 Speaker 1: bridget Bishop was escorted out of the Salem jail to 529 00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:28,400 Speaker 1: a makeshift execution site on the edge of town. Her 530 00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:31,240 Speaker 1: card was followed by a number of the afflicted girls 531 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:34,560 Speaker 1: who were about to see the dark consequences of their 532 00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:39,080 Speaker 1: accusations and tales. The people that you would have expected 533 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:42,200 Speaker 1: to see, though the judges were nowhere to be found 534 00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:45,600 Speaker 1: that was bad enough for people like William Stowton or 535 00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:49,640 Speaker 1: Samuel Sewell, who were key figures in the trial. But Hawthorne, 536 00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:54,160 Speaker 1: Corwin and Gedney actually lived in Salem Town. They had 537 00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:57,600 Speaker 1: zero excuses for not being there to see the consequences 538 00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:03,680 Speaker 1: of their judicial fervor. Beverly Minister John Hale was present 539 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:06,560 Speaker 1: that morning to say a final prayer with Bridget and 540 00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:10,400 Speaker 1: to utter a benediction over the gathered crowd. Some of 541 00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:14,200 Speaker 1: the people gathered there were in shock. Others wore sneers 542 00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:17,040 Speaker 1: on their faces, as if they reveled in the tension 543 00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:20,600 Speaker 1: that hummed around them. Even in the darkest of times, 544 00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:27,320 Speaker 1: it seems there's always one person in the crowd who approves. Finally, 545 00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:31,160 Speaker 1: George Corwyn led Bridget up to the hastily built platform 546 00:34:31,200 --> 00:34:34,680 Speaker 1: and tied her hands behind her back. Then he carefully 547 00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:37,560 Speaker 1: slipped the noose over her head and stooped down to 548 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:40,719 Speaker 1: tie her petticoats to her legs. It would stop her 549 00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:43,839 Speaker 1: from kicking and keep her decent at the same time. 550 00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:49,320 Speaker 1: When he was ready, George Corwyn most likely took a long, 551 00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:52,600 Speaker 1: deep breath and then muttered a prayer of his own, 552 00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:57,160 Speaker 1: extending his arm toward her. He placed his hand on 553 00:34:57,239 --> 00:35:03,640 Speaker 1: her back, and then he pushed bridget Fell and the 554 00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:10,719 Speaker 1: world went dark. That's it for this week's episode of Unobscured. 555 00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:14,600 Speaker 1: Stick around after this short sponsor break for a preview 556 00:35:14,719 --> 00:35:20,680 Speaker 1: of what's in store for next week. Next time on Unobscured, 557 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:25,640 Speaker 1: Stoton believed that if someone witnessed the spectral image of 558 00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:28,680 Speaker 1: a witch, then the person they saw was the person 559 00:35:28,719 --> 00:35:32,600 Speaker 1: to blame. The ministers, though disagreed. They believed that the 560 00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:37,160 Speaker 1: devil could impersonate innocent people, literally putting on their appearance 561 00:35:37,239 --> 00:35:40,520 Speaker 1: as a disguise, just to get those people in trouble, 562 00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:45,319 Speaker 1: So obviously, the next question was even trickier. How can 563 00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:48,280 Speaker 1: you tell? It was bad enough that no one except 564 00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:51,680 Speaker 1: a handful of the accused could actually see the specters 565 00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:54,760 Speaker 1: of their attackers, but now they had to play detective 566 00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:57,520 Speaker 1: and figure out which ones were the devil in disguise 567 00:35:57,880 --> 00:36:01,760 Speaker 1: and which ones were real witches. And the solution, according 568 00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:06,160 Speaker 1: to the ministers, was to avoid prosecuting virtuous people, people 569 00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:11,920 Speaker 1: with blameless reputations and no history of any wrongdoing. It 570 00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:15,120 Speaker 1: was a cop out answer, though, because Stoton believed that 571 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:20,279 Speaker 1: very few people were actually of unblemished reputation. He and 572 00:36:20,440 --> 00:36:24,040 Speaker 1: his fellow judges were part of that select few, naturally, 573 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:27,560 Speaker 1: but outside of that, it was difficult to imagine anyone 574 00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:31,799 Speaker 1: without a sordid past, even Rebecca Nurse, who was a 575 00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:35,520 Speaker 1: full member of the Salem Village Church and well respected, 576 00:36:36,400 --> 00:36:39,319 Speaker 1: and as she was about to find out, when your 577 00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:43,439 Speaker 1: fate rested on invisible evidence, it was hard to see 578 00:36:43,480 --> 00:37:42,319 Speaker 1: anything other than darkness. Unobscured was created and written by 579 00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:45,800 Speaker 1: me Aaron Mankey and produced by Matt Frederick and Alex 580 00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:49,319 Speaker 1: Williams in partnership with How Stuff Works, with research by 581 00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:53,560 Speaker 1: Carl Nellis and original music by Chad Lawson. Learn more 582 00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:58,719 Speaker 1: about our contributing historians further reading material, resource archive and 583 00:37:58,840 --> 00:38:03,720 Speaker 1: links to our other thos at History unobscured dot com. 584 00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:09,560 Speaker 1: Until next time, thanks for listening, m HM.