Cry Witch!: The Salem Witchcraft Trials (Perspectives on History Series) »

Amid a lifetime of turmoil, the "afflicted girls" of 1692 Salem, Massachusetts cried out against scores of accused witches. Smallpox epidemics, drought, and Native American attacks unsettled Puritan society. Witch hysteria arose, then, with charges against a beggar and a slave and later swept up children and respected church members. Within a year, public reaction to the accusations – and to the deaths of 20 people – put an end to the witch trials. Court transcripts and contemporary accounts give insight into the events of 1692, from the words of those who lived and died during the trials, including Tituba, Increase and Cotton Mather, Governor Phips, Martha Corey, John Proctor, Mary Easty, John Alden, and eight-year-old "confessed" witch, Sarah Carrier.

Compelling firsthand accounts and primary source U.S. history documents underpin History Compass' popular Perspectives on History series, exploring in detail people and events from our nation's history. Original materials – letters, photographs, journal entries, maps, broadsheets, essays, newspaper accounts, poetry, cartoons, songs, and illustrations – convey life, struggle, hardship, victory, and success throughout American history.