Annotated Bibliography

"Salem Witch Trials." History.com. A&E Television Networks.

Web. 15 Apr. 2015. <http://www.history.com/topics/salemwitch-trials>.
Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams were children who began having fits, including
uncontrollable outbursts, screaming, and violent contortions. Later on it was declared
that through the power of witches, the children were acting strange. The Salem Witch
Trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in
colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. The trial had then
resulted in the executions of approximately twenty people, and most of them were
women. Despite being generally known as the Salem Witch Trials, the preliminary
hearings in 1692 were set up in several towns in the Province of Massachusetts Bay:
Salem Village, Salem Town, Ipswich and Andover. This research presents how tough life
had been for women to survive during the time period of the Salem Witch Trials. These
beliefs have no sources but just pure accusations. I felt this article didn't dig deep into
this issue.

"A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials." Smithsonian. Web.

15 Apr. 2015. <http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/abrief-history-of-the-salem-witch-trials-175162489/?no-ist>.
In 17th-century part of North America, the supernatural was known to be a very big part
of life; many people believed that Satan, or the Devil himself, was still very active on
Earth. This concept emerged in Europe and then immediately spread out with the later
colonization of North America. Over time, the idea of white magic transformed into dark
magic and became associated with demons and evil spirits. From 1560 to 1670,
witchcraft accusations became very common as superstitions became associated with
the devil. I felt this article was strong written. It is very rich in detail and stories. It is a
very good source for history and science.

"A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials." Smithsonian. Web.

15 Apr. 2015. <http://smartchicaq.tripod.com/id6.html>.
Many people in the town of Salem began to feel that the trials were getting way out of
hand and killing many innocent lives. On the date of October 12, 1692, Governor Phips
issued order that protected the current prisoners from harm and had further suspended
any more arrests of people accused of witchcraft. Robert Calef, a merchant outraged by
the progress of the trials, stated that Governor Phips had only issued these orders on
the belief that his own wife had been accused of working for Satan. Court officials made
many disagreements pertaining to the innocent lives of women who were wrongfully
accused of witchcraft. Toward the end, officials had decided to end the trials. Once the
trials were over, many people did not get along as the way they had before. This article
was poorly written. There were many grammatical errors and no sources to back up this
page.