Execution of a Bridget Bishop - Essay Example

BRIDGET BISHOP: SALEM WITCH Young girls in Salem Village in 1692 began exhibiting strange physical phenomena, which the village leaders, led by Pastor Samuel Parris, interpreted as witchcraft, based on spectral evidence against some men and women, including Bridget Bishop. For her courageous and outrageous divergence from social norms in behavior and manners, especially with unpleasant speech, she became a fit target for execution on June 10 in Witches Hill. Later-day theories explain the unfamiliar phenomena as the effects of ergot poisoning, Puritanism's repugnance for the spoken word and the Salem leaders'inclination to look for someone to execute for their political troubles at the time. More than 300 years after the Salem trials, the Acting Governor signed a bill exonerating the defamed victims of their supposed crimes. In Salem Village, Massachusetts in 1692, the daughter and orphaned niece of Pastor Samuel Parris and, later, six other young girls suddenly exhibited "fits, outbreaks of obscene babbling and wild partying," and who, when compelled, pointed to three women as their tormentors (Hill, 1996; Wikipedia, 2006). Parris daughter was Betty, his orphaned niece was Abigail Williams and the three women accused of bewitching the girls were Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba, Parris' Caribbean Native American slave. Sarah Good was a town beggar known for her strange "muttering," Sarah Osborne was a bedridden elderly spurned by the Puritans for cheating her first husband's children of their inheritance, and Tituba was tortured into partly admitting that she learned from a former mistress how to uncover a witch and be protected from witchcraft. The accused were imprisoned on March 1, 1692 and other accusations quickly followed until the jail populations of Sale, Boston and surrounding areas grew and became a problem. They was no legitimate form of government at the time and, therefore, no way to try them fairly until the arrival of Governor Sir William Phips who set up a Court of Oyer and Terminer "to hear and determine" the cases and appointed William Stoughton, who had no legal training, as the chief justice. Stoughton allowed "spectral" evidence, spoke and met with the accused in private and repeatedly refused the defense of the accused. The Court heard the cases only once a month and almost all of the accused were condemned to death for witchcraft and no one found innocent. There was no way to escape the stigma of being a witch and only those who gave other names were set free A total of 19 accused men and women, mostly women, were executed by hanging, and these were a respectable minister, an uncooperative former constable, at least three wealthy people, some men and the rest were poor women beyond childbearing ages. The background in which these executions were performed was set against Parris' and Puritanism's absolutes of good and evil, which characterized his parsonage with deep fear, guilt and suspicion on a daily basis (Hill, Wikipedia). It all started when a neighbor named Mary Sibley suggested baking a "witch cake" to detect the witchcraft in Parris' daughter and niece, for which Parris denounced her in the pulpit and called the people to arms against the "Devil (Hill, 1996; Wikipedia, 2006)." Village leaders fervently responded to the call and submitted the accused to the chief magistrate who not only assumed their guilt but found reinforcement for it through "spectral evidence." The chief magistrate ordered the "tormented" girls to look at Sarah Good and when they did, they twisted, collapsed, choked and fainted. The "evidence" became the established precedence for convicting in succeeding trials. The accused were tied by the neck and heels for a whole day or longer to force them to confess. At least four of them died in prison. The first to be convicted and hanged was Bridget Bishop, partly because of a previous conviction of marital quarreling. Five more were hanged in the succeeding months and around 200 stood accused and 150 imprisoned. The witch-hunt went overboard when the wife of the governor, Lady Phipps, was named as a suspect. Then a leading Boston minister and politician, Increase Mather, expressed doubts on the reliability of spectral evidence in trying witches. The ad hoc court was soon abolished, Parris quit his post and no one was held accountable for the deaths and suffering of the accused (Hill). Parris and co-accuser Thomas Putnam were among those deprived of their family wealth and, in an effort at retaining their moral, political and socioeconomic authority granted them by Puritanism, they became emotionally vulnerable and unstable. This condition led to the neglect and deterioration of the land itself. The crops and cattle were untended, commerce halted and workers crowding at the jails were arrested (Wikipedia). Bridget Bishop was born in England in the 1640s, married George Wasselbe in 1660 and settled in Salem (Witchway, 2005). There, she married Thomas Oliver in 1664. Since then, she was known to be a quarrelsome wife who had a sharp tongue. She differed from other women of her time in her dressing style, manners and actions, something entirely opposed to the stereotype of a submissive wife to the Puritans (Westwood 1990). Besides spectral evidence, that difference from other women accounted for her crime, although she was a full fellow of John Hale's church. She made herself a convenient target of those who advocated conventions. Bishop set herself free from austere Puritan manners in speech and conduct and wore flashy clothes, dealt openly with men and engaged in revelries in her tavern. Furthermore, she had more husbands than a "respectable" woman should have at the time. She had three during her lifetime and they were Wasselbe, Oliver and Edward Bishop, one of the founders of the Beverly Church. She was suspected and accused of witchcraft by Wonn, a Negro, who said he saw her shape on the beam of the hay house with an egg in her hand. But real trouble developed when she opened a tavern, where noisy and aggressive behavior of patrons disturbed the sleep of the neighborhood, especially when one of the neighbors, Christine Trask, went into a rage and destroyed herself. Bridget Bishop was accused of murdering Christine through witchcraft in 1686 but Trask recanted when she later regained her mind. In 1692, she was again indicted for witchcraft with Marry Warren, Giles Corey and Abigail Hobbs on the accusation of Mercy Lewis and Ann Putnam that Bridget wanted them to "sign the Devil's book." Bridget's history of troubled relationships with her neighbors made her a most suitable target for witch-hunters, although she denied all accusations set against her. The jury never sought advice from ministers on matters of criminal law while they prepared for the trial. The then ministerial fellowship, led by Cotton Mather, was stern in their belief in the invisible kingdom of the devil. Bridget Bishop was searched for witch marks by the jury of women, who said they found something in her flesh, a cyst, which in the jury women's opinion marked the dwelling of the devil. There were physical phenomena cited to prove that she practiced witchcraft by witnesses, but Bridget kept silent and did not defend herself. After hearing all the testimonies, the judges condemned her to hang. On June 10, 1692, she was sent to death on "Witches Hill" but Bridget showed no sign of remorse. The ministers reviewed their methods of court and found that these were not only sufficient and appropriate but should be made more stringent. Internal and external tensions at the time of Bridget's trial and execution led the members of the community to look for someone to punish for their misfortune and hardships (Westwood). A more objective review of Bridget Bishop's background will show that only unpleasant personal qualities, a dry skin wart and a few dolls in her possession were the "evidences" held against her for witchcraft (Westwood, 1990). If the people of Salem Village were honest, they would admit that Bridget was persecuted and executed for her non-conformist behavior during her time. Other theories on what really accounted for the unfamiliar and strange physical phenomena in the Village in 1692 include the development of hysteria among the girls who exhibited convulsive symptoms caused by ergotism (Wikipedia, 2006) and a "deliberate hear-fulness or repulsion for too much speech (Kamensky, 1998)." Ergot is a poisonous fungus, which grew from bread, then plentiful around Salem (Wikipedia). Ingestion of this fungus could produce convulsions, stupor, delirium and hallucinations. These were the findings of a psychologist called Linnda Caporeal in 1976, something which the Salem villagers of 1692 were unaware of. They could attribute the physical movements only to the effects of witchcraft. Lysergic Acid Diethylamid or LSD is one hallucinogen drug, which can be derived from ergot. Convulsive ergotism could account for the strange physical phenomena, vomiting and diarrhea, melancholia, psychosis and delirium, which the accused in Salem Village displayed as spectral evidence. (Wikipedia). The other theory is Puritan obsession with the spoken word (Kamensky 1998) and with the extreme inclination for careful listening. The most common criminal offenses of the period were blasphemy, cursing, slander, scolding and verbal attacks on civil and religious leaders. Bridget Bishop 15 years previous to her execution was punished for calling her husband ugly names. This led to her overall "falling out" and ill repute with society (Kamensky). Acting Governor Jane Swift of the State of Massachusetts ended the infamy of the accused in these witch-hunts by approving a bill, which cleared them of the crime for which they were hanged in 1692 and 1693 (Noble, 2001). These victims included Bridget Bishop, Sara Wildes, Sussanah Martin, Alice Parker, Margaret Scott and Wilmott Redd. The bill was inspired by Arthur Miller's award-winning 1953 play, entitled "The Crucible," which paralleled the witch-hunt with congressional hearings against subversives and Communists (Noble). # BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Evening Standard. (2005). On This Day in 1692. Associated Newspapers, Ltd. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4153/is_20050610/ai_n14661188 2. Hill, Frances. (1996). A Delusion of Satan. Doubleday 3. Kamensky, J. (1998). Puritan Concern with Speech Set Stage for Witch Trials. Oxford University Press 4. Noble, C. (2001). Legal Bill Exonerates the Last of the Salem Witches. London: The Independent: The Independent Newspapers UK Limited http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20011102/i_214431210 5. Westwood, M L G. (1990). A Sketch of Bridget Bishop. The Student Historical Journal: Loyola University. http://www.loyno.edu/journal/1990-1/westwood.htm 6. Wikipedia. (2006). Salem With Trials. Media Wiki. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch-trials 7. Witchway. (2005). Bridget Bishop. Salem Witch Trials of 1692. The Magic Spirits. http://www.witchway.net/times/bishop.html Read More