Answer:
Topics:
1. Trials occurred between Feb. 1692 and May 1693.
2. 300 people accused. 30 found guilty. 19 killed by hanging and one man pressed to death.
3. Accusation originated, primarily, with young girls, like teenager Elizabeth Hubbard, aged 17.
4. Witches were truly believed to be real, along with other hosts of supernatural beings like vampires and werewolves. Although these beliefs differed from place-to-place, explanations of the supernatural were commonly used alongside explanations of rudimentary science.
5. The townsfolk weaponized accusations of witchcraft to persecute enemies and rivals within the town.
6. 78% of those accused were women, and puritanical beliefs of the time associated women, more so than men, with inherent evil and sinfulness. While men and women were believed equal before God, men and women were believed unequal before the Devil.
7. Many years later, several of the surviving teenage girls, now much older, revealed they invented the accusations of witchcraft.
Explanation:
