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[[File:Cotton Mather on Salem Witch Trials.jpg|300px|right|1693 pamphlet by the Puritan minister Cotton Mather declaring the trials to have been a success]]

[[File:Cotton Mather on Salem Witch Trials.jpg|300px|right|1693 pamphlet by the Puritan minister Cotton Mather declaring the trials to have been a success]]

From May to October 1692, in the town of [[Salem, Massachusetts|Salem]] (short for "Jerusalem") in [[Massachusetts]] Bay Colony, several girls reported they were possessed by [[devil]]s, and they accused three women of witchcraft. The community was profoundly alarmed and held investigations and trials. All three along with sixteen other accused witches were hanged. Nearly 150 people were imprisoned.  No one was burned to death.

From May to October 1692, in the town of [[Salem, Massachusetts|Salem]] (short for "Jerusalem") in [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]], several girls reported they were possessed by [[devil]]s, and they accused three women of witchcraft. The community was profoundly alarmed and held investigations and trials. All three along with sixteen other accused witches were hanged. Nearly 150 people were imprisoned.  No one was burned to death.

The trials were stopped when the governor's wife was accused of being a witch. To this day Salem is a favorite gathering place for people enamored of witchcraft.  Famous [[American]] writer [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]], who wrote the novel partially against [[Puritan]] [[morality]] called the ''[[The Scarlett Letter]]'', was born in Salem as a direct descendant of a presiding trial judge who never recanted his actions, and Hawthorne felt his family was cursed due to its role.  Hawthorne was only 4 years old when his father died at sea.  Popular movies, such as ''[[The Conjuring]]'', assume that some of the accused really were witches.

The trials were stopped when the governor's wife was accused of being a witch. To this day Salem is a favorite gathering place for people enamored of witchcraft.  Famous [[American]] writer [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]], who wrote the novel partially against [[Puritan]] [[morality]] called the ''[[The Scarlett Letter]]'', was born in Salem as a direct descendant of a presiding trial judge who never recanted his actions, and Hawthorne felt his family was cursed due to its role.  Hawthorne was only 4 years old when his father died at sea.  Popular movies, such as ''[[The Conjuring]]'', assume that some of the accused really were witches.