WEBVTT - Were Witches Really Burned at the Stake in Salem?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff, Lauren bol obam Here. From the frightful

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<v Speaker 1>implications in the Blair Witch Project to the decidedly wholesome

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<v Speaker 1>Glinda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz, Magical

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<v Speaker 1>mavens are at the center of some of our most

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<v Speaker 1>enduring and endearing stories. There are also modern day practitioners

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<v Speaker 1>of witchcraft, a term used to describe many groups and individuals,

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<v Speaker 1>and most of whom focus on positivity and using magic

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<v Speaker 1>for good. There was a time, however, when being considered

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<v Speaker 1>a witch was a veritable death sentence. Take Salem Village, Massachusetts.

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<v Speaker 1>In two young girls, nine year old Elizabeth Harris and

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<v Speaker 1>eleven year old Abigail Williams, began having fits, which included

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<v Speaker 1>body spasms and uncontrolled screaming. The town doctor diagnosed them

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<v Speaker 1>as being afflicted by black magic and accused them of

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<v Speaker 1>practicing witchcraft, notion that didn't sit too well in the

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<v Speaker 1>Puritan settlement. A Contrary to legend, however, these so called

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<v Speaker 1>witches were not burned at the stake. In fact, none

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<v Speaker 1>of the men, women, or children accused of practicing witchcraft

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<v Speaker 1>in Salem were killed that way. Most likely the recounting

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<v Speaker 1>of the Salem witch Trials became intertwined with stories of

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<v Speaker 1>actual executions by fire in Europe. During European witch trials

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<v Speaker 1>between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, people accused of witchcraft

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<v Speaker 1>were commonly burned at the stake. Occasionally they were hanged

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<v Speaker 1>before being burned. The punishment was in accordance with the

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<v Speaker 1>Holy Roman Empire's laws, which contended that the punishment for

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<v Speaker 1>witchcraft was death by fire. A church and civic leaders

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<v Speaker 1>led the charge, executing as many as fifty thousand people

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<v Speaker 1>across Europe in what's now France, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia and Scotland.

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<v Speaker 1>So what actually happened to the colonists accused during the

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<v Speaker 1>Salem witch Trials. Nineteen died by hanging their bodies swaying

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<v Speaker 1>on the infamous gallows Hill. Of five were hanged on

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<v Speaker 1>August nineteenth of six ninety two alone. One elderly man

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<v Speaker 1>was stoned to death, and others died in jail while

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<v Speaker 1>waiting for their day in court. Bridget Bishop was the

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<v Speaker 1>first to be hanged on June tenth, although her exact

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<v Speaker 1>misdeeds seemed to amount to no more than rumor and speculation.

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<v Speaker 1>Her case became a template for those that followed. A

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<v Speaker 1>bishop was accused by the girls afflicted with black magic,

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<v Speaker 1>but she denied their claims. Then a witness came forward

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<v Speaker 1>to support the accusers, followed by more townspeople who described

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<v Speaker 1>previous acts of witchcraft supposedly performed by Bishop. Bishop's trial

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<v Speaker 1>and those of many others accused of witchcraft, ended with

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<v Speaker 1>a guilty verdict, no matter how improbable the evidence. During

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<v Speaker 1>the sale in witch trials, more than two hundred people

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<v Speaker 1>were accused of practicing witchcraft, which amounted to nothing more

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<v Speaker 1>than a lot of finger pointing in a short time span.

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<v Speaker 1>The hysteria lasted little more than a year before the

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<v Speaker 1>local government deemed the trials a mistake and attempted to

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<v Speaker 1>compensate the families of those who were convicted and hanged.

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<v Speaker 1>In the year two thousand one, more than three hundred

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<v Speaker 1>years after those nineteen men and women were put to

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<v Speaker 1>death during the Salem witch trials, five of them were

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<v Speaker 1>officially exonerated by the State of Massachusetts, Bridget Bishop, plus

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<v Speaker 1>four others, Susannah Martin, Alice Parker, Wilmot Read and Margaret Scott.

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<v Speaker 1>The Act was approved by the state legislature and signed

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<v Speaker 1>on Halloween. Today's episode is based on the article where

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<v Speaker 1>Witches Really Burned at the Stake in Salem on how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff Works dot Com, written by Laurie L. Dove. Brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff is production of by Heart Radio in partnership with

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff Works dot Com and it is produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the

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