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Upheaval occurred in England in 1688.  The people there overthrew [[King James II]], who was Catholic.  His daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange took the throne and reinstated Protestantism, and adopted the [[English Bill of Rights]].  A century later this would inspire the American Bill of Rights.

Upheaval occurred in England in 1688.  The people there overthrew [[King James II]], who was Catholic.  His daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange took the throne and reinstated Protestantism, and adopted the [[English Bill of Rights]].  A century later this would inspire the American Bill of Rights.

In 1692, the [[Salem Witch Trials]] began in Puritan Massachusetts, in towns located north of Boston.  Several girls displayed symptoms suggesting they were possessed by the devil, and it remains a mystery to this day what caused their afflictions, or even if they were play acting.  Their doctor, after examinging them, determined that the only cause was supernatural.  The community became suspicious of an Indian slave from Barbados in the Caribbean, named Tituba, who had been telling stories of voodoo and witchcraft and even fed a "witchcake" to a dog (at her master's instructions) to ward off the devil.  The girls told the same details about how the devil visited them, including seeing "witches flying through the winter mist."  Tituba first denied being a witch, but then "confessed" that she was a witch and named other townswomen (including a tavern owner) who she said were witches working with her.  Tituba declared that a tall man from Boston, perhaps Satan, visited her and sometimes appeared as a dog or a hog, asking her to do his work.  She said she had flown through the air on poles with the other witches she named, and could not obtain counseling from the minister because the devil had blocked her path.<ref>http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SAL_ACCT.HTM</ref>

In 1692, the [[Salem Witch Trials]] began in Puritan Massachusetts, in towns located north of Boston.  Several girls displayed symptoms suggesting they were possessed by the devil, and it remains a mystery to this day what caused their afflictions, or even if they were play acting.  Their doctor, after examining them, determined that the only cause was supernatural.  The community became suspicious of an Indian slave from Barbados in the Caribbean, named Tituba, who had been telling stories of voodoo and witchcraft and even fed a "witchcake" to a dog (at her master's instructions) to ward off the devil.  The girls told the same details about how the devil visited them, including seeing "witches flying through the winter mist."  Tituba first denied being a witch, but then "confessed" that she was a witch and named other townswomen (including a tavern owner) who she said were witches working with her.  Tituba declared that a tall man from Boston, perhaps Satan, visited her and sometimes appeared as a dog or a hog, asking her to do his work.  She said she had flown through the air on poles with the other witches she named, and could not obtain counseling from the minister because the devil had blocked her path.<ref>http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SAL_ACCT.HTM</ref>

Before long the local jails were overflowing with witches identified by other witches who had "confessed", and trials had to be held to free up space in jail.  But trials then were primitive, allowing "spectral evidence" as a basis for convicting someone.  "Spectral evidence" is testimony by a victim that she had been visited by an image ("specter") of the accused, thereby suggesting the guilt of the accused.  Another flaw in the legal system included a lack of a defense attorney for the accused, the allowance of "touching tests" as evidence, and proof did not have to be proven "beyond reasonable doubt," as it must be today.

Before long the local jails were overflowing with witches identified by other witches who had "confessed", and trials had to be held to free up space in jail.  But trials then were primitive, allowing "spectral evidence" as a basis for convicting someone.  "Spectral evidence" is testimony by a victim that she had been visited by an image ("specter") of the accused, thereby suggesting the guilt of the accused.  Another flaw in the legal system included a lack of a defense attorney for the accused, the allowance of "touching tests" as evidence, and proof did not have to be proven "beyond reasonable doubt," as it must be today.