1 00:00:02,458 --> 00:00:03,667 [foreboding music] 2 00:00:03,667 --> 00:00:07,042 - Tonight, a dark chapter in early American history. 3 00:00:07,042 --> 00:00:10,042 - We are still fascinated by the Salem witch trials 4 00:00:10,042 --> 00:00:12,958 because it's a story of injustice. 5 00:00:12,958 --> 00:00:14,375 Women, young women, 6 00:00:14,375 --> 00:00:16,375 some of them as young as nine years old, 7 00:00:16,375 --> 00:00:18,542 denounced their neighbors for witchcraft. 8 00:00:18,542 --> 00:00:22,042 - Accusations fly and many people are put to death. 9 00:00:22,042 --> 00:00:24,125 - People are coming to court saying, 10 00:00:24,125 --> 00:00:27,125 "I see invisible specters," 11 00:00:28,458 --> 00:00:30,917 and that was being accepted as fact. 12 00:00:30,917 --> 00:00:32,583 - Now, we explore the top theories 13 00:00:32,583 --> 00:00:34,750 behind a notorious tragedy 14 00:00:34,750 --> 00:00:36,750 that's never been explained. 15 00:00:36,750 --> 00:00:39,208 - Suddenly, they realized that beneath the surface, 16 00:00:39,208 --> 00:00:41,667 there's this giant conspiracy that's been building, 17 00:00:41,667 --> 00:00:43,208 and so they want to uproot this. 18 00:00:43,208 --> 00:00:45,375 They want to find out how deep the conspiracy goes. 19 00:00:45,375 --> 00:00:48,417 - Can modern science finally shed new light? 20 00:00:48,417 --> 00:00:50,333 - Medical knowledge is power. 21 00:00:50,333 --> 00:00:52,375 It's a luxury that we have now 22 00:00:52,375 --> 00:00:55,083 that they did not have back then in Salem. 23 00:00:55,083 --> 00:00:56,333 - What really happened 24 00:00:56,333 --> 00:00:59,875 in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts 25 00:00:59,875 --> 00:01:02,792 and what sparked the Salem witch trials? 26 00:01:02,792 --> 00:01:05,500 [dramatic music] 27 00:01:15,875 --> 00:01:19,042 [foreboding music] 28 00:01:23,125 --> 00:01:27,042 - 1692, Salem Village, Massachusetts. 29 00:01:27,042 --> 00:01:28,833 This tight-knit Puritan community 30 00:01:28,833 --> 00:01:33,042 lives a deeply religious and strict way of life. 31 00:01:33,042 --> 00:01:36,083 - The Puritan settled in Salem about 70 years 32 00:01:36,083 --> 00:01:38,542 before the outbreak of the Salem witch trials. 33 00:01:39,750 --> 00:01:42,125 They had fled England where they had been persecuted 34 00:01:42,125 --> 00:01:45,333 for their religious beliefs by the Anglican Church. 35 00:01:45,333 --> 00:01:47,958 - Puritans are not fans of this church, 36 00:01:47,958 --> 00:01:49,542 not because it's too strict, 37 00:01:49,542 --> 00:01:51,417 but because it's not strict enough. 38 00:01:52,708 --> 00:01:55,458 They have established themselves in Massachusetts Bay 39 00:01:55,458 --> 00:01:58,083 and they sought to build a godly city on a hill. 40 00:01:59,167 --> 00:02:00,042 - Their first settlement, 41 00:02:00,042 --> 00:02:02,167 Salem Town is a port city, 42 00:02:02,167 --> 00:02:03,292 but as the years go by, 43 00:02:03,292 --> 00:02:05,542 the settlers gradually move inland 44 00:02:05,542 --> 00:02:08,083 and eventually they form Salem Village. 45 00:02:08,083 --> 00:02:09,208 - But at some point, 46 00:02:09,208 --> 00:02:10,417 there's really a kind of a division 47 00:02:10,417 --> 00:02:12,875 that starts to take place between Salem Town 48 00:02:12,875 --> 00:02:14,542 and Salem Village. 49 00:02:14,542 --> 00:02:18,417 - Salem Town developed into a bustling port city 50 00:02:18,417 --> 00:02:21,208 with trading connections all over the region. 51 00:02:21,208 --> 00:02:22,375 - [Laurence] In contrast, 52 00:02:22,375 --> 00:02:26,167 Salem Village is a poor rural community. 53 00:02:26,167 --> 00:02:28,833 It's more than 500 inhabitants spread out 54 00:02:28,833 --> 00:02:30,917 over a much larger area 55 00:02:30,917 --> 00:02:33,625 and make a living mostly as farmers. 56 00:02:35,542 --> 00:02:38,333 - It's surrounded on all sides, basically, 57 00:02:38,333 --> 00:02:40,375 by pretty dense woods, 58 00:02:41,292 --> 00:02:42,875 and they really kind of eke out a bit 59 00:02:42,875 --> 00:02:45,250 of a subsistence existence. 60 00:02:45,250 --> 00:02:49,125 - The community that is created by these Puritan beliefs 61 00:02:49,125 --> 00:02:54,542 is that your life is constantly a battle between good and evil. 62 00:02:55,667 --> 00:02:58,500 And evil can overtake you at any turn, 63 00:02:58,500 --> 00:03:00,542 so you always have to be on the lookout. 64 00:03:03,750 --> 00:03:06,875 - [Laurence] Puritans consider women especially susceptible 65 00:03:06,875 --> 00:03:08,708 to Satan's charms. 66 00:03:08,708 --> 00:03:11,833 - Puritans don't believe that women are inherently evil, 67 00:03:11,833 --> 00:03:15,042 but they preach that women are weaker than men, 68 00:03:15,042 --> 00:03:17,167 both physically and morally. 69 00:03:18,375 --> 00:03:20,833 When the witch hunt begins, 70 00:03:20,833 --> 00:03:25,083 that makes women likely targets for accusations. 71 00:03:25,083 --> 00:03:28,542 - [Laurence] The Puritan's fear of witchcraft traces back 72 00:03:28,542 --> 00:03:32,333 to Europe where massive witch hunts have been going on 73 00:03:32,333 --> 00:03:35,375 for over 300 years. 74 00:03:35,375 --> 00:03:37,917 - Something like 50,000 people were executed 75 00:03:37,917 --> 00:03:39,542 for witchcraft across Europe 76 00:03:39,542 --> 00:03:43,500 and its colonies between 1450 and 1750. 77 00:03:45,500 --> 00:03:47,208 - [Laurence] It's against this backdrop 78 00:03:47,208 --> 00:03:48,792 that the stage is set 79 00:03:48,792 --> 00:03:52,042 for the most infamous witch hunt of all time. 80 00:03:52,042 --> 00:03:55,208 The events leading to the Salem witch trials are believed 81 00:03:55,208 --> 00:03:58,000 to begin at the end of 1691 82 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,958 in the Salem Village home of Reverend Samuel Parris. 83 00:04:01,958 --> 00:04:03,500 - Reverend Samuel Parris 84 00:04:03,500 --> 00:04:06,208 and his wife leave their daughter Betty, 85 00:04:06,208 --> 00:04:07,500 who's nine years old, 86 00:04:07,500 --> 00:04:10,750 and her 11-year-old cousin Abigail alone 87 00:04:10,750 --> 00:04:13,250 when they go off on trips for various things. 88 00:04:13,250 --> 00:04:14,833 They're not totally alone. 89 00:04:14,833 --> 00:04:18,167 They're actually with their enslaved house servant Tituba. 90 00:04:18,167 --> 00:04:19,417 - Some historical sources say 91 00:04:19,417 --> 00:04:21,625 that she's of African ancestry, 92 00:04:21,625 --> 00:04:24,083 but most likely she was from what is present day 93 00:04:24,083 --> 00:04:25,500 of Venezuela or Guyana. 94 00:04:26,375 --> 00:04:28,167 - Tituba decides let's play a game, 95 00:04:28,167 --> 00:04:30,417 which is already kind of uncommon 96 00:04:30,417 --> 00:04:34,417 because kids in Puritanical societies are also not allowed 97 00:04:34,417 --> 00:04:36,792 to engage in any sort of fun. 98 00:04:36,792 --> 00:04:38,708 - Young girls' voices are not heard. 99 00:04:39,583 --> 00:04:42,208 Children are expected to be quiet 100 00:04:42,208 --> 00:04:44,333 and to listen to whatever their parents say 101 00:04:44,333 --> 00:04:47,875 and to grow up without a personality. 102 00:04:47,875 --> 00:04:50,667 That's what was expected of the young girls in Salem. 103 00:04:52,083 --> 00:04:56,375 - Tituba teaches them a game called the Venus Glass. 104 00:04:56,375 --> 00:04:58,167 - They would take an egg white 105 00:04:58,167 --> 00:04:59,583 and drop it into a glass of water 106 00:04:59,583 --> 00:05:01,583 and try to interpret the shape, 107 00:05:01,583 --> 00:05:04,375 and they thought that they would get some insight 108 00:05:04,375 --> 00:05:06,833 into who their future partner would be, 109 00:05:06,833 --> 00:05:09,417 - But when they're looking in the glass, 110 00:05:09,417 --> 00:05:11,292 they see something that terrifies them, 111 00:05:11,292 --> 00:05:12,625 the image of a coffin. 112 00:05:15,417 --> 00:05:16,750 - [Laurence] Soon after, 113 00:05:16,750 --> 00:05:19,500 in the midst of an especially bitter winter, 114 00:05:19,500 --> 00:05:22,333 Betty and Abigail both come down with what appears 115 00:05:22,333 --> 00:05:25,042 to be an unexplained illness. 116 00:05:25,042 --> 00:05:26,792 - It starts with a fever. 117 00:05:26,792 --> 00:05:27,750 But then from there, 118 00:05:27,750 --> 00:05:31,250 it progresses into very strange forms. 119 00:05:31,250 --> 00:05:33,458 They become catatonic. 120 00:05:33,458 --> 00:05:35,542 They start hiding under furniture. 121 00:05:35,542 --> 00:05:38,458 They start barking like dogs, 122 00:05:38,458 --> 00:05:40,500 and they feel like they're being pinched 123 00:05:40,500 --> 00:05:42,167 or pricked all over their bodies, 124 00:05:42,167 --> 00:05:44,958 even though there's no visible marks that could be seen 125 00:05:44,958 --> 00:05:48,583 and nobody has a clue what's going on with these girls. 126 00:05:48,583 --> 00:05:50,375 - [Laurence] February, 1692, 127 00:05:50,375 --> 00:05:52,833 with no improvement in their condition, 128 00:05:52,833 --> 00:05:56,792 the Parris girls accused Tituba of bewitching them. 129 00:05:56,792 --> 00:05:59,083 - A court is convened in the town of Salem. 130 00:05:59,083 --> 00:06:01,042 Tituba is brought before a court, 131 00:06:01,042 --> 00:06:02,417 before a council, 132 00:06:02,417 --> 00:06:04,375 and they asked her, "Are you a witch? 133 00:06:04,375 --> 00:06:07,458 Did you bewitch the Parris girls?" 134 00:06:07,458 --> 00:06:10,708 - One of the peculiarities of the Salem witch trials is 135 00:06:10,708 --> 00:06:14,250 that those who confess are granted clemency. 136 00:06:14,250 --> 00:06:16,042 - If you maintained your innocence 137 00:06:16,042 --> 00:06:17,208 but you were found guilty, 138 00:06:17,208 --> 00:06:19,292 then you were put to death. 139 00:06:19,292 --> 00:06:21,417 Tituba understands this. 140 00:06:21,417 --> 00:06:22,792 She can read the room pretty easily, 141 00:06:22,792 --> 00:06:26,208 so she confesses, "Yes, I'm a witch, 142 00:06:26,208 --> 00:06:27,542 I bewitched these girls." 143 00:06:28,458 --> 00:06:30,042 - Tituba testifies 144 00:06:30,042 --> 00:06:33,458 that she does something called signing the devil's book, 145 00:06:33,458 --> 00:06:36,042 and she says further it's not just her, 146 00:06:36,042 --> 00:06:38,375 there are other people that she knows in the town 147 00:06:38,375 --> 00:06:39,875 who did it too. 148 00:06:39,875 --> 00:06:41,125 Who they were, 149 00:06:41,125 --> 00:06:42,500 nobody exactly knew, 150 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:47,417 - And it breeds an atmosphere of paranoia 151 00:06:47,417 --> 00:06:49,708 and anxiety within the village 152 00:06:49,708 --> 00:06:52,875 that spurs further denunciations 153 00:06:52,875 --> 00:06:55,542 - [Laurence] Over the course of the three-day trial, 154 00:06:55,542 --> 00:06:58,292 Tituba will go on to name several women. 155 00:06:58,292 --> 00:07:00,292 - So these women are thrown in jail, 156 00:07:00,292 --> 00:07:02,000 but the accusations don't stop. 157 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:04,208 The next wave of people that are accused 158 00:07:04,208 --> 00:07:07,250 and arrested are both men and women. 159 00:07:07,250 --> 00:07:09,083 It's not just one or the other. 160 00:07:09,083 --> 00:07:10,375 - In court, 161 00:07:10,375 --> 00:07:14,000 the young women that are afflicted begin 162 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:18,917 to make allegations that their neighbors are harming them, 163 00:07:19,875 --> 00:07:21,667 but harming them in spectral form. 164 00:07:22,958 --> 00:07:27,042 - Spectral evidence broadly is the idea that the devil, 165 00:07:27,042 --> 00:07:30,042 if he forms some sort of a pact with a person, 166 00:07:30,042 --> 00:07:32,458 can then take that person's form and be a specter 167 00:07:32,458 --> 00:07:34,500 and travel among the ordinary people 168 00:07:34,500 --> 00:07:37,875 of the town looking like that person. 169 00:07:37,875 --> 00:07:39,500 - There was no need to prove that. 170 00:07:39,500 --> 00:07:41,083 As long as someone says 171 00:07:41,083 --> 00:07:44,042 that they have essentially the special power to see it 172 00:07:44,042 --> 00:07:47,542 because the whole idea is that this evidence is invisible. 173 00:07:47,542 --> 00:07:49,667 - Confronted with spectral evidence, 174 00:07:49,667 --> 00:07:54,667 it's impossible for defendants to answer the charges. 175 00:07:55,792 --> 00:07:57,333 - [Laurence] Ultimately, more than 200 men 176 00:07:57,333 --> 00:07:58,708 and women wind up accused, 177 00:07:58,708 --> 00:08:02,833 over 50 confessed and are committed to prison, 178 00:08:02,833 --> 00:08:05,833 20 refused to confess and are executed. 179 00:08:07,375 --> 00:08:08,917 - Contrary to popular belief, 180 00:08:08,917 --> 00:08:12,083 no witch was ever burned at the stake in the United States. 181 00:08:13,542 --> 00:08:14,750 - They were all hung 182 00:08:14,750 --> 00:08:16,500 except for one person, 183 00:08:16,500 --> 00:08:19,500 a man by the name of Giles Corey. 184 00:08:19,500 --> 00:08:21,250 They took Giles Corey out to a field, 185 00:08:21,250 --> 00:08:22,542 laid him on his back, 186 00:08:22,708 --> 00:08:24,875 and they started slowly placing these heavy stones 187 00:08:24,875 --> 00:08:25,542 on his chest, 188 00:08:25,542 --> 00:08:26,875 telling him, "Confess! 189 00:08:26,875 --> 00:08:28,250 Do you confess to being a witch?" 190 00:08:28,250 --> 00:08:31,708 - All he says is just, "Add more weight, more weight," 191 00:08:33,042 --> 00:08:35,500 until finally he can't breathe and he dies. 192 00:08:35,500 --> 00:08:38,000 - [Laurence] May, 1693, 193 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,375 Massachusetts Governor William Phipps officially ends 194 00:08:41,375 --> 00:08:43,250 the witch trials. 195 00:08:43,250 --> 00:08:45,083 The witch hunts may be over, 196 00:08:45,083 --> 00:08:49,625 but the horror they unleashed still resonates to this day. 197 00:08:50,833 --> 00:08:53,667 - The key question of the Salem witch trials is, 198 00:08:53,667 --> 00:08:55,875 what caused these afflicted girls 199 00:08:55,875 --> 00:08:58,458 to start falling into these fits? 200 00:08:58,458 --> 00:09:00,542 - There's certainly room for the idea 201 00:09:00,542 --> 00:09:03,083 that maybe what the girls were suffering from was 202 00:09:03,083 --> 00:09:06,625 something more psychological than physiological. 203 00:09:11,625 --> 00:09:16,042 Mass hysteria is a known psychological event where one 204 00:09:16,042 --> 00:09:19,583 or two people start experiencing psychologically-based 205 00:09:19,583 --> 00:09:22,208 symptoms that then become contagious 206 00:09:22,208 --> 00:09:26,000 just as if it were another sort of physical illness. 207 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:28,833 - [Laurence] After Betty and Abigail's terrifying experience 208 00:09:28,833 --> 00:09:30,500 with the Venus Glass, 209 00:09:30,500 --> 00:09:32,833 both girls come down with some sort 210 00:09:32,833 --> 00:09:34,833 of mysterious affliction. 211 00:09:34,833 --> 00:09:36,042 - They start getting sick, 212 00:09:36,042 --> 00:09:38,208 and it starts off with them getting feverish, 213 00:09:39,500 --> 00:09:44,083 but they don't really know what the cause of this fever is. 214 00:09:44,625 --> 00:09:45,667 On top of the fever, 215 00:09:45,667 --> 00:09:47,292 they also start hallucinating. 216 00:09:47,292 --> 00:09:50,917 Their arms and their legs just start moving in weird fits. 217 00:09:54,208 --> 00:09:57,375 - Finally, Reverend Parris summons the village doctor, 218 00:09:57,375 --> 00:09:58,625 William Griggs. 219 00:09:58,625 --> 00:10:00,667 - Dr. Griggs examines the girls 220 00:10:00,667 --> 00:10:02,833 and could not find any medical explanation 221 00:10:02,833 --> 00:10:04,042 for their symptoms. 222 00:10:04,042 --> 00:10:06,292 - Clearly, they have to be bewitched. 223 00:10:06,292 --> 00:10:09,125 There is a precedent that does exist for this sort of thing. 224 00:10:09,125 --> 00:10:10,750 So there's a renowned Puritan minister 225 00:10:10,750 --> 00:10:12,250 by the name of Cotton Mather. 226 00:10:12,250 --> 00:10:14,917 He writes a book called "Memorable Providences Relating 227 00:10:14,917 --> 00:10:16,875 to Witchcraft and Possession." 228 00:10:16,875 --> 00:10:19,542 - And it's a story about a Boston family 229 00:10:19,542 --> 00:10:23,208 and the way in which they are being afflicted by a witch. 230 00:10:24,542 --> 00:10:26,750 Cotton Mather's book was widely read at the time. 231 00:10:26,750 --> 00:10:29,375 Probably the girls heard the stories. 232 00:10:29,375 --> 00:10:32,417 - After their terrifying experience with the Venus Glass, 233 00:10:32,417 --> 00:10:35,958 Abigail and Betty feel a tremendous sense of guilt. 234 00:10:35,958 --> 00:10:38,917 They're living in a repressive Puritan society 235 00:10:38,917 --> 00:10:40,250 in the house of the minister. 236 00:10:41,375 --> 00:10:42,917 They believe that dabbling 237 00:10:42,917 --> 00:10:46,167 with magic makes you a prime target for demonic assault. 238 00:10:46,167 --> 00:10:50,625 Perhaps the fits they experience are a reaction 239 00:10:50,625 --> 00:10:52,417 to their own sense of guilt. 240 00:10:52,417 --> 00:10:54,917 - It's as if all of this fear, 241 00:10:54,917 --> 00:10:58,917 all of this paranoia just suddenly explodes out 242 00:10:58,917 --> 00:11:00,208 and everyone feels it. 243 00:11:01,542 --> 00:11:03,458 - People who are being accused 244 00:11:03,458 --> 00:11:05,958 of being witches when they call on their family and friends 245 00:11:05,958 --> 00:11:07,333 and say, "Please come forward 246 00:11:07,333 --> 00:11:09,875 and say that I've not done any of these things," 247 00:11:11,083 --> 00:11:13,458 then those individuals get accused also. 248 00:11:13,458 --> 00:11:16,875 So it's like no one can escape the wrath of discord system. 249 00:11:18,167 --> 00:11:21,250 When you're already in a community prone to groupthink, 250 00:11:21,250 --> 00:11:24,917 mass hysteria is going to spread even faster. 251 00:11:25,792 --> 00:11:27,083 - Many people start 252 00:11:27,083 --> 00:11:29,917 to also exhibit the same sorts of behaviors, 253 00:11:29,917 --> 00:11:31,875 and this is what we see at Salem 254 00:11:31,875 --> 00:11:33,583 where it's not just the two girls, 255 00:11:33,583 --> 00:11:35,417 but many girls screaming, 256 00:11:35,417 --> 00:11:38,083 feeling like they're being physically tormented. 257 00:11:38,083 --> 00:11:42,208 All these things seem to spread from two girls originally 258 00:11:42,208 --> 00:11:45,708 to suddenly a whole group of people behaving the same way. 259 00:11:45,708 --> 00:11:48,250 It's classic mass hysteria. 260 00:11:48,250 --> 00:11:51,125 - There are other instances in more recent times 261 00:11:51,125 --> 00:11:53,583 where we do see this phenomenon actually happening. 262 00:11:53,583 --> 00:11:54,708 In 1965, 263 00:11:54,708 --> 00:11:55,583 Blackburn, England, 264 00:11:55,583 --> 00:11:57,042 we have a group of girls 265 00:11:57,042 --> 00:12:00,417 who are complaining of dizziness and a fainting. 266 00:12:00,417 --> 00:12:02,667 Within hours of those complaints, 267 00:12:02,667 --> 00:12:06,000 85 other students are also complaining 268 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:09,000 of the same medical issues of dizziness, of fainting, 269 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:10,750 and yet there's no medical reason 270 00:12:10,750 --> 00:12:13,708 as to why that actually happens. 271 00:12:13,708 --> 00:12:15,208 - Psychological triggers 272 00:12:15,208 --> 00:12:17,750 in mass hysteria can involve a lot of different things. 273 00:12:17,750 --> 00:12:20,500 Certainly, pervasive stress is one of them. 274 00:12:20,500 --> 00:12:21,917 Oftentimes, it can also happen 275 00:12:21,917 --> 00:12:24,375 when the person already feels a loss of control 276 00:12:24,375 --> 00:12:27,708 in their lives as probably many of these villagers did. 277 00:12:27,708 --> 00:12:29,917 - Once you have an initial trigger, 278 00:12:29,917 --> 00:12:32,542 the effects can very easily snowball. 279 00:12:32,542 --> 00:12:35,917 - And sadly, it got way out of hand 280 00:12:35,917 --> 00:12:37,708 where it ended up costing lives 281 00:12:44,208 --> 00:12:47,375 - [Laurence] It is 1692 and a group of girls 282 00:12:47,375 --> 00:12:51,458 in Colonial Salem, Massachusetts kickstart accusations 283 00:12:51,458 --> 00:12:52,792 of witchcraft, 284 00:12:52,792 --> 00:12:55,542 sending hundreds of people to jail 285 00:12:55,542 --> 00:12:57,750 and 19 to the gallows. 286 00:12:57,750 --> 00:12:58,917 - Now, looking back, 287 00:12:58,917 --> 00:13:00,875 we know that these girls were not bewitched, 288 00:13:00,875 --> 00:13:02,958 but they still experience these symptoms 289 00:13:02,958 --> 00:13:04,500 for quite a long period of time. 290 00:13:05,667 --> 00:13:07,875 So how do we explain these symptoms? 291 00:13:12,542 --> 00:13:13,917 - So these girls are being raised 292 00:13:13,917 --> 00:13:16,250 in an extremely repressive environment, 293 00:13:16,250 --> 00:13:18,458 a town where there's not a whole lot of attention 294 00:13:18,458 --> 00:13:19,917 for these girls, 295 00:13:19,917 --> 00:13:23,458 and maybe they found a way to get a lot of attention. 296 00:13:23,458 --> 00:13:24,833 All of a sudden, 297 00:13:24,833 --> 00:13:26,292 they find their voices. 298 00:13:26,292 --> 00:13:29,167 - [Laurence] Some experts suggest the answer lies 299 00:13:29,167 --> 00:13:32,167 in a power play by the alleged victims. 300 00:13:35,958 --> 00:13:38,417 - The girls' symptoms would change over time 301 00:13:38,417 --> 00:13:42,250 and come up at the most convenient of moments 302 00:13:42,250 --> 00:13:45,583 like during the trials themselves 303 00:13:45,583 --> 00:13:49,083 when a specific symptom was actually being discussed. 304 00:13:49,083 --> 00:13:52,333 - There is even some evidence that fraud may have occurred 305 00:13:52,333 --> 00:13:54,292 in the later parts of the trials. 306 00:13:54,292 --> 00:13:56,875 The girls started to show up in court 307 00:13:56,875 --> 00:13:58,875 with pins sticking in their hands, 308 00:13:58,875 --> 00:14:00,875 saying that they'd been put there by a specter, 309 00:14:00,875 --> 00:14:03,292 with bite marks saying that a specter had bit them, 310 00:14:03,292 --> 00:14:07,208 physical kind of manifestations that are clearly impossible. 311 00:14:07,208 --> 00:14:10,208 - When these children are being paid attention to finally 312 00:14:10,208 --> 00:14:12,917 and getting that support and love from their community 313 00:14:12,917 --> 00:14:14,750 and being valued for speaking up, 314 00:14:14,750 --> 00:14:16,042 which is so different 315 00:14:16,042 --> 00:14:17,542 from what they experienced up until now, its 316 00:14:17,542 --> 00:14:20,208 easy for children especially to get hooked on that. 317 00:14:21,875 --> 00:14:23,500 - [Laurence] Some historians contend 318 00:14:23,500 --> 00:14:27,375 that the Salem witch trials all started when two girls, 319 00:14:27,375 --> 00:14:31,583 Betty Parris and her cousin Abigail cry wolf. 320 00:14:31,583 --> 00:14:33,417 And as the trials continue, 321 00:14:33,417 --> 00:14:36,708 the spotlight on them only grows brighter. 322 00:14:36,708 --> 00:14:39,125 - Perhaps early on in the trials, 323 00:14:39,125 --> 00:14:41,625 the afflicted girls enjoy the attention 324 00:14:41,625 --> 00:14:43,000 that they're getting. 325 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:45,250 - The audience for these girls is growing. 326 00:14:46,333 --> 00:14:49,375 People are coming from outside into Salem, 327 00:14:49,375 --> 00:14:53,000 new blood, new people, new audience to perform for 328 00:14:54,208 --> 00:14:57,000 'cause There's really a kind of a theatrical element. 329 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:59,042 - So many people want to be here 330 00:14:59,042 --> 00:15:02,667 to see this scandalous affair that they have to move 331 00:15:02,667 --> 00:15:03,917 to the meeting house, 332 00:15:03,917 --> 00:15:06,083 the largest building within Salem Village. 333 00:15:06,083 --> 00:15:09,292 As soon as they start to talk to the suspected witches, 334 00:15:09,292 --> 00:15:13,000 the girls begin to fall into terrible fits 335 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:16,500 and it causes complete pandemonium in the courtroom. 336 00:15:16,500 --> 00:15:20,375 - It seems to me that the girls could be, 337 00:15:20,375 --> 00:15:22,250 in a sense, having the last laugh here. 338 00:15:22,250 --> 00:15:24,167 They're getting a lot of entertainment about it. 339 00:15:24,167 --> 00:15:28,375 Nothing this fun or exciting has ever happened in Salem. 340 00:15:28,375 --> 00:15:31,417 You have these girls who are suddenly rock stars, 341 00:15:31,417 --> 00:15:35,042 this group who tends to be ignored, marginalized, 342 00:15:35,042 --> 00:15:38,208 and they have their moment in the limelight. 343 00:15:38,208 --> 00:15:39,583 - [Laurence] It isn't just attention 344 00:15:39,583 --> 00:15:40,875 these girls are getting, 345 00:15:40,875 --> 00:15:43,208 it's also power. 346 00:15:43,208 --> 00:15:45,542 - Men were the ones that spoke out in court. 347 00:15:45,542 --> 00:15:47,500 Men were the ones that charged their neighbors 348 00:15:47,500 --> 00:15:49,625 with moral infractions. 349 00:15:49,625 --> 00:15:51,083 But in this case, 350 00:15:51,083 --> 00:15:55,917 women and young women are given the authority 351 00:15:55,917 --> 00:15:58,292 and the power to appear in court 352 00:15:58,292 --> 00:16:00,458 to denounce their neighbors for witchcraft. 353 00:16:02,208 --> 00:16:06,042 It's a complete reversal of the entire gender 354 00:16:06,042 --> 00:16:09,042 and power hierarchies within Puritan society. 355 00:16:11,125 --> 00:16:14,250 - In June of 1692, Ann Putnam, 356 00:16:14,250 --> 00:16:16,583 the daughter of one of the prominent families, 357 00:16:16,583 --> 00:16:20,083 accuses Rebecca Nurse of being one of the people 358 00:16:20,083 --> 00:16:21,542 who's bewitching the girls. 359 00:16:21,542 --> 00:16:23,708 Now, she's a very respected person in the community. 360 00:16:23,708 --> 00:16:24,958 She isn't one of these loners 361 00:16:24,958 --> 00:16:26,042 or an outsider or something. 362 00:16:26,042 --> 00:16:27,917 And so 39 people 363 00:16:27,917 --> 00:16:29,833 in the community sign a petition that says, 364 00:16:29,833 --> 00:16:30,958 "No, she's a good person. 365 00:16:30,958 --> 00:16:32,625 She's an upstanding moral citizen, 366 00:16:32,625 --> 00:16:34,875 and she's not the kind of person who'd be a witch. 367 00:16:34,875 --> 00:16:36,917 We don't think she's a witch." 368 00:16:36,917 --> 00:16:39,583 - Rebecca Nurse pleads her innocence 369 00:16:39,583 --> 00:16:41,375 from the very beginning. 370 00:16:41,375 --> 00:16:44,542 But by the time of Rebecca Nurse's trial, 371 00:16:44,542 --> 00:16:48,208 the afflicted girls are running the courtroom. 372 00:16:48,208 --> 00:16:50,750 The judges are deferring to them. 373 00:16:50,750 --> 00:16:53,625 - Rebecca Nurse ultimately is hanged for being a witch. 374 00:16:55,708 --> 00:16:59,083 Imagine the power that this is giving to 9-year-old, 375 00:16:59,083 --> 00:17:02,167 11-year-old, 12-year-old girls in this town. 376 00:17:03,583 --> 00:17:06,750 - Children do cruel and strange things just to get attention 377 00:17:06,750 --> 00:17:08,583 or just because they're bored, 378 00:17:08,583 --> 00:17:10,333 but to blame for that really should go 379 00:17:10,333 --> 00:17:12,000 to the adults and not the kids. 380 00:17:13,042 --> 00:17:14,208 - [Laurence] It's impossible 381 00:17:14,208 --> 00:17:16,000 to know whether the Salem girls were 382 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,042 intentionally play acting, 383 00:17:18,042 --> 00:17:19,750 but given the culture of the day, 384 00:17:19,750 --> 00:17:23,542 it's almost certain they could never admit to lying. 385 00:17:25,458 --> 00:17:28,750 - Once the girls have denounced their neighbors 386 00:17:28,750 --> 00:17:31,083 and they've been hanged as witches, 387 00:17:31,083 --> 00:17:33,042 it is too late for them 388 00:17:33,042 --> 00:17:35,000 to retract their statements. 389 00:17:36,333 --> 00:17:37,875 Within the Puritan community, 390 00:17:37,875 --> 00:17:40,792 lying under oath is a serious sin 391 00:17:40,792 --> 00:17:43,500 that could place your eternal soul in jeopardy. 392 00:17:43,500 --> 00:17:44,750 It's doubtful 393 00:17:44,750 --> 00:17:47,125 whether these young women would've risked that. 394 00:17:54,208 --> 00:17:55,792 - [Laurence] In 1692, 395 00:17:55,792 --> 00:17:59,833 Salem Village, Massachusetts is a dangerous place. 396 00:17:59,833 --> 00:18:03,375 Accusations of witchcraft suddenly threatened hundreds 397 00:18:03,375 --> 00:18:06,208 of lives and people are starting to be hanged 398 00:18:06,208 --> 00:18:07,792 - 300 years later, 399 00:18:07,792 --> 00:18:09,042 when you start to pull away 400 00:18:09,042 --> 00:18:11,625 from the mystical, the magical, 401 00:18:11,625 --> 00:18:16,292 you start to unearth a much more interesting story, 402 00:18:16,292 --> 00:18:21,000 one that potentially talks about not black magic, 403 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:24,375 but jealousy, rivalry, 404 00:18:24,375 --> 00:18:26,833 and also a clash of ideology. 405 00:18:28,667 --> 00:18:29,875 - The politics 406 00:18:29,875 --> 00:18:33,958 of this small village are very neighborhood-based. 407 00:18:33,958 --> 00:18:36,042 In an environment like this, 408 00:18:36,042 --> 00:18:39,500 you have to depend on your neighbor 409 00:18:39,500 --> 00:18:43,292 in order to make it past all the immense challenges 410 00:18:43,292 --> 00:18:45,417 of life at this time. 411 00:18:45,417 --> 00:18:47,375 - Everything was very close knit. 412 00:18:47,375 --> 00:18:49,625 There wasn't a police force. 413 00:18:49,625 --> 00:18:52,208 Everybody just knew everybody else's business. 414 00:18:52,208 --> 00:18:56,042 - Gossip plays a huge role in the Salem witch trials. 415 00:18:56,042 --> 00:18:58,083 Once Tituba confesses, 416 00:18:58,083 --> 00:18:59,625 it's the talk of the town. 417 00:18:59,625 --> 00:19:02,000 People come from as far away as Boston 418 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:03,958 to attend her examination. 419 00:19:03,958 --> 00:19:08,000 Once the afflicted start falling into fits in the courtroom, 420 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:09,708 mass pandemonium ensues. 421 00:19:09,708 --> 00:19:11,208 - But behind all of this hysteria, 422 00:19:11,208 --> 00:19:12,542 behind all of this gossip, 423 00:19:12,542 --> 00:19:13,708 behind all of this everyone getting 424 00:19:13,708 --> 00:19:14,958 into everyone's business, 425 00:19:14,958 --> 00:19:16,125 in the background, 426 00:19:17,833 --> 00:19:22,833 there's something that's been brewing for about 20 years 427 00:19:23,792 --> 00:19:25,208 and it's gonna come to a head 428 00:19:25,208 --> 00:19:27,375 right around the time of these witch trials. 429 00:19:30,958 --> 00:19:34,042 - One factor in the Salem witch trials is the feud 430 00:19:34,042 --> 00:19:37,208 between the Porters and the Putnams. 431 00:19:37,208 --> 00:19:38,625 - The Putnams are an old, 432 00:19:38,625 --> 00:19:41,542 extremely conservative farming family, 433 00:19:41,542 --> 00:19:44,083 while the Porters run the local sawmill 434 00:19:44,083 --> 00:19:46,333 and are newer and more liberal in their outlook 435 00:19:46,333 --> 00:19:49,542 with stronger links to nearby Salem town 436 00:19:50,833 --> 00:19:54,625 - In 1672, a dam that's owned by the Porters breaks open 437 00:19:54,625 --> 00:19:58,083 and it floods land that belongs to the Putnams. 438 00:19:58,083 --> 00:20:00,583 And so the Putnam will actually file a lawsuit 439 00:20:00,583 --> 00:20:02,542 against the Porter family for damages. 440 00:20:04,292 --> 00:20:08,125 - It causes immense tensions between these two families 441 00:20:08,125 --> 00:20:09,667 because the fields 442 00:20:09,667 --> 00:20:12,292 and the fertility of the fields is absolutely central 443 00:20:12,292 --> 00:20:13,375 to their survival. 444 00:20:17,375 --> 00:20:18,958 - Tensions between these two families came 445 00:20:18,958 --> 00:20:22,375 to a head when it was time to elect a new religious leader. 446 00:20:22,375 --> 00:20:23,792 - The Putnam felt that the people 447 00:20:23,792 --> 00:20:28,833 in Salem Township were becoming more and more liberal, 448 00:20:30,042 --> 00:20:31,542 and they wanted to preserve the traditions 449 00:20:31,542 --> 00:20:34,333 that exist in Salem Village, 450 00:20:34,333 --> 00:20:36,458 and so they bring in this more conservative, 451 00:20:36,458 --> 00:20:38,208 more authoritarian minister. 452 00:20:39,417 --> 00:20:41,000 Samuel Parris is stern. 453 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:42,958 He's very fire and brimstone. 454 00:20:42,958 --> 00:20:44,208 He's a fundamentalist 455 00:20:44,208 --> 00:20:45,542 at a time when we would've thought 456 00:20:45,542 --> 00:20:47,167 they were all fundamentalists. 457 00:20:47,167 --> 00:20:49,458 - Samuel Parris becomes a lightning rod 458 00:20:49,458 --> 00:20:52,292 for controversy within Salem Village. 459 00:20:52,292 --> 00:20:53,375 - He's bombastic, 460 00:20:53,375 --> 00:20:54,667 he's pompous, 461 00:20:54,667 --> 00:20:56,000 he's loud, 462 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:57,542 and many people don't like him. 463 00:20:58,292 --> 00:21:00,792 - Once established as Minister, 464 00:21:00,792 --> 00:21:03,958 the village splits further over his accommodation 465 00:21:03,958 --> 00:21:05,542 and expenses. 466 00:21:05,542 --> 00:21:08,042 26 members of the Village Council, 467 00:21:08,042 --> 00:21:09,958 11 of whom are Putnams, 468 00:21:09,958 --> 00:21:13,125 vote to give the reverend's family a house, a barn, 469 00:21:13,125 --> 00:21:15,042 and two acres of land. 470 00:21:15,042 --> 00:21:16,333 - The Porters believe 471 00:21:16,333 --> 00:21:18,875 that installing Parris is a bridge too far. 472 00:21:18,875 --> 00:21:20,083 - They're unwilling to pay 473 00:21:20,083 --> 00:21:24,875 for what they see as large scale expenses for Samuel Parris 474 00:21:26,042 --> 00:21:27,292 and his work as religious leader. 475 00:21:27,292 --> 00:21:29,583 - The Porters also decide to remove members 476 00:21:29,583 --> 00:21:31,875 of the Putnam family off of the governing board 477 00:21:31,875 --> 00:21:33,375 for Salem Village. 478 00:21:35,167 --> 00:21:37,958 - [Laurence] In October of 1691, 479 00:21:37,958 --> 00:21:41,500 just a few months before the girls are supposedly stricken, 480 00:21:41,500 --> 00:21:43,333 the new committee members installed 481 00:21:43,333 --> 00:21:46,208 by the Porters vote down a tax levy 482 00:21:46,208 --> 00:21:49,208 that would pay Reverend Parris' salary. 483 00:21:49,208 --> 00:21:51,583 With powerful figures opposing him, 484 00:21:51,583 --> 00:21:55,542 it seems that Parris could soon be out of a job. 485 00:21:55,542 --> 00:21:56,875 - So this feud between the Putnam 486 00:21:56,875 --> 00:21:58,917 and the Porters has been brewing for about 20 years. 487 00:21:58,917 --> 00:22:01,125 So by the time we get to the first accusation 488 00:22:01,125 --> 00:22:02,583 that's been made, 489 00:22:02,583 --> 00:22:04,500 the line in the sand has been drawn 490 00:22:04,500 --> 00:22:06,333 and this feud is going 491 00:22:06,333 --> 00:22:08,542 to find a whole new battlefield to play out on. 492 00:22:09,625 --> 00:22:11,833 - [Laurence] In all, eight members 493 00:22:11,833 --> 00:22:14,625 of the Putnam family are either accusers 494 00:22:14,625 --> 00:22:18,208 or part of the team prosecuting the suspected witches. 495 00:22:18,208 --> 00:22:21,375 - Thomas Putnam files 12 legal complaints 496 00:22:21,375 --> 00:22:24,250 and testifies against 24 individuals 497 00:22:24,250 --> 00:22:25,708 who are accused of witchcraft, 498 00:22:25,708 --> 00:22:29,375 but his daughter Anne takes it all one step further. 499 00:22:29,375 --> 00:22:33,208 - Anne Putnam in the end actually levies accusations 500 00:22:33,208 --> 00:22:35,458 against 48 people. 501 00:22:35,458 --> 00:22:37,667 So nearly one quarter of all the people 502 00:22:37,667 --> 00:22:39,708 who get accused of witchcraft in Salem Village. 503 00:22:39,708 --> 00:22:42,250 - Now, in response to all of these testimonies made 504 00:22:42,250 --> 00:22:44,083 by Thomas Putnam and his daughter, 505 00:22:44,083 --> 00:22:45,500 the Porters come out 506 00:22:45,500 --> 00:22:48,292 and try to start mobilizing the villagers of Salem 507 00:22:48,292 --> 00:22:50,958 to try to put up stop to these witch trials. 508 00:22:50,958 --> 00:22:53,417 As they're trying to mobilize these villagers, 509 00:22:53,417 --> 00:22:57,292 subsequently, 19 of their friends end up being accused 510 00:22:57,292 --> 00:22:58,083 of witchcraft. 511 00:22:59,875 --> 00:23:03,375 - The legal system in Puritan New England gave essentially 512 00:23:03,375 --> 00:23:06,000 those accused a witchcraft no way 513 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:07,958 to make an effective defense. 514 00:23:07,958 --> 00:23:10,417 - If you were pointed at and called a witch, 515 00:23:10,417 --> 00:23:11,667 that was an accusation 516 00:23:11,667 --> 00:23:13,625 and you were immediately put on trial. 517 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:17,083 - There are people who think that it's entirely possible 518 00:23:17,083 --> 00:23:19,875 that the Putnams and Reverend Parris were responsible 519 00:23:19,875 --> 00:23:22,792 for more or less manipulating their kids 520 00:23:22,792 --> 00:23:25,042 into making these kinds of accusations. 521 00:23:26,625 --> 00:23:28,125 - From the Putnam's perspective 522 00:23:28,125 --> 00:23:30,167 and from Parris' perspective, 523 00:23:30,167 --> 00:23:31,625 this is a great thing 524 00:23:31,625 --> 00:23:33,542 'cause not only do they get to eliminate their enemies 525 00:23:33,542 --> 00:23:34,583 by accusing them of witches 526 00:23:34,583 --> 00:23:36,375 and potentially killing them, 527 00:23:36,375 --> 00:23:38,583 but they also create a kind of hysteria 528 00:23:38,583 --> 00:23:41,958 that brings people closer to their fundamentalist viewpoint. 529 00:23:41,958 --> 00:23:45,542 - But this also puts Reverend Parris in a sort of spotlight 530 00:23:45,542 --> 00:23:48,458 because what better time to start coming to church 531 00:23:48,458 --> 00:23:50,042 and to listening to his sermons? 532 00:23:51,625 --> 00:23:53,792 So even though these accusations could be seen 533 00:23:53,792 --> 00:23:55,708 as an extension of the feud 534 00:23:55,708 --> 00:23:57,333 between the Putnam and the Porters, 535 00:23:57,333 --> 00:24:01,000 the accusations then start to get a little out of control 536 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:02,125 and start to snowball. 537 00:24:03,917 --> 00:24:07,042 - The problem extended well beyond Salem Village. 538 00:24:07,042 --> 00:24:10,292 There are actually 20 different communities 539 00:24:10,292 --> 00:24:13,500 that had people within them who were accused of witchcraft. 540 00:24:13,500 --> 00:24:16,583 So the Putnam and Porter families were really 541 00:24:16,583 --> 00:24:18,458 only a very small part of what grew 542 00:24:18,458 --> 00:24:20,167 to be a much larger affair. 543 00:24:26,208 --> 00:24:27,458 - Puritans in Salem, Massachusetts 544 00:24:27,583 --> 00:24:30,333 in the late 1600s live in a world of faith and fear, 545 00:24:30,333 --> 00:24:31,875 which many believe is at the root 546 00:24:31,875 --> 00:24:34,583 of the most infamous witch hunt in American history. 547 00:24:35,625 --> 00:24:37,958 But what if there was a more tangible cause, 548 00:24:37,958 --> 00:24:40,792 one that the Puritans would have no way of detecting? 549 00:24:41,625 --> 00:24:44,000 Now, more than three centuries later, 550 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:47,583 perhaps we have the scientific means to uncover it. 551 00:24:49,292 --> 00:24:50,542 - Salem Villages, 552 00:24:50,542 --> 00:24:53,375 they're built on agriculture and farming, 553 00:24:53,375 --> 00:24:57,000 and so there's a lot of growing of grasses, 554 00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,042 barley wheat. 555 00:24:59,042 --> 00:25:00,542 In Salem Village, 556 00:25:00,542 --> 00:25:03,375 rye grain is actually one of the most prevalent crops. 557 00:25:03,375 --> 00:25:05,542 It's hearty, it's durable. 558 00:25:05,542 --> 00:25:08,167 It can make it through a winter pretty decently, 559 00:25:08,167 --> 00:25:11,875 and so it becomes the staple of the Puritan diet. 560 00:25:11,875 --> 00:25:14,542 - You can make everything with it from bread to beer. 561 00:25:15,792 --> 00:25:18,958 But you're never guaranteed a successful harvest. 562 00:25:18,958 --> 00:25:20,917 You have to plant this crop correctly. 563 00:25:20,917 --> 00:25:23,375 And if you end up having a miserable harvest, 564 00:25:23,375 --> 00:25:25,458 you could face starvation. 565 00:25:25,458 --> 00:25:28,000 - Going into the planting season of 1692, 566 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:30,708 the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay 567 00:25:30,708 --> 00:25:32,500 colony have endured a brutal winter. 568 00:25:32,500 --> 00:25:35,667 - Their stores of grain are running low 569 00:25:35,667 --> 00:25:37,167 and they're kind of hoping for the spring, 570 00:25:37,167 --> 00:25:40,583 but the spring turns out being pretty miserable, 571 00:25:40,583 --> 00:25:42,208 very damp weather. 572 00:25:42,208 --> 00:25:44,958 Damp weather is disastrous when you're trying to keep grain 573 00:25:44,958 --> 00:25:47,708 because things start to get moldy. 574 00:25:48,958 --> 00:25:52,417 - When this crop comes up from the ground in 1692, 575 00:25:52,417 --> 00:25:53,875 Puritans may have taken a look at it 576 00:25:53,875 --> 00:25:57,000 and noticed a black stain on the back of the grain, 577 00:25:58,125 --> 00:25:59,708 but they may have just thought that this was due 578 00:25:59,708 --> 00:26:01,875 to overexposure to the sun, 579 00:26:01,875 --> 00:26:04,167 so they could have well harvested it 580 00:26:04,167 --> 00:26:06,000 and ground it into their bread. 581 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:08,708 - [Laurence] But these Puritans are seemingly unaware 582 00:26:08,708 --> 00:26:10,167 that the black spot they've ground 583 00:26:10,167 --> 00:26:13,708 into their bread is actually a fungus. 584 00:26:13,708 --> 00:26:15,083 - And this fungus, though, 585 00:26:16,042 --> 00:26:19,292 it can cause severe hallucination. 586 00:26:25,750 --> 00:26:30,833 - Ergot is a kind of fungus that is very toxic 587 00:26:31,542 --> 00:26:33,708 and which is very durable. 588 00:26:33,708 --> 00:26:36,042 It's extremely difficult to get rid of. 589 00:26:36,042 --> 00:26:39,417 Even now, modern fungicides have a difficult time killing 590 00:26:39,417 --> 00:26:41,083 the ergot fungus, 591 00:26:41,083 --> 00:26:45,792 and it particularly likes to grow in rye grain. 592 00:26:45,792 --> 00:26:47,208 - So the only way that you can get rid 593 00:26:47,208 --> 00:26:50,625 of ergot is if you rotate your crops pretty regularly. 594 00:26:50,625 --> 00:26:52,042 - If there's a particular fungus 595 00:26:52,042 --> 00:26:55,375 or pest that likes a particular kind of crop, 596 00:26:55,375 --> 00:26:59,542 then by rotating the crops that you grow one kind one year 597 00:26:59,542 --> 00:27:00,708 and another kind of different year, 598 00:27:00,708 --> 00:27:02,542 you don't allow the pests to stay 599 00:27:02,542 --> 00:27:03,750 and they'll die off in one winter 600 00:27:03,750 --> 00:27:05,667 and they won't come back the next. 601 00:27:05,667 --> 00:27:09,750 - But because the soil so wet and is not as arable 602 00:27:09,750 --> 00:27:11,375 and it's kind of a rocky or terrain up there, 603 00:27:11,375 --> 00:27:13,542 it's hard to rotate your crops as regularly in the north 604 00:27:13,542 --> 00:27:15,042 and it is in the south. 605 00:27:15,042 --> 00:27:16,708 - [Laurence] It's possible some 606 00:27:16,708 --> 00:27:19,667 of this ergot made its way into the villager's bread. 607 00:27:20,583 --> 00:27:21,833 - They ingest it, 608 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:25,292 and they are experiencing what's called ergotism 609 00:27:25,292 --> 00:27:27,917 AKA St. Anthony's fire. 610 00:27:27,917 --> 00:27:29,000 It's called St. Anthony's fire 611 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:32,417 because in previous instances 612 00:27:32,417 --> 00:27:35,792 where ergotism had been seen, 613 00:27:35,792 --> 00:27:40,042 it is said that those that ingested this fungus that prayed 614 00:27:40,042 --> 00:27:42,750 to Saint Anthony were spared death. 615 00:27:44,125 --> 00:27:47,792 - Ergotism causes LSD-like effects. 616 00:27:47,792 --> 00:27:51,250 It's sufferers have hallucinations, 617 00:27:51,250 --> 00:27:53,958 they suffer convulsions. 618 00:27:53,958 --> 00:27:56,833 - [Laurence] Behavioral scientist, Linnda Caporael, 619 00:27:56,833 --> 00:28:01,292 first published this theory back in 1976. 620 00:28:01,292 --> 00:28:04,958 - It's a really interesting fact that the symptoms 621 00:28:04,958 --> 00:28:09,167 of ergot poisoning are really similar to what it is 622 00:28:09,167 --> 00:28:13,417 that affects and afflicts Betty and Abigail back 623 00:28:13,417 --> 00:28:14,708 at the Parris homestead. 624 00:28:15,875 --> 00:28:18,000 So those sorts of hallucinations that they have, 625 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:19,875 the catatonia that they have, 626 00:28:19,875 --> 00:28:21,708 the kind of acting out, 627 00:28:21,708 --> 00:28:23,083 the convulsions or the fits, 628 00:28:23,083 --> 00:28:26,875 all those are also symptoms of ergot poisoning. 629 00:28:26,875 --> 00:28:28,458 - Her explanation 630 00:28:28,458 --> 00:28:31,083 of why young women would've been particularly susceptible 631 00:28:31,083 --> 00:28:35,667 to ergotism is that they were smaller and weighed less, 632 00:28:35,667 --> 00:28:39,333 and so the toxicity would've had more of an effect on them. 633 00:28:39,333 --> 00:28:41,708 It's easy to see why she thought 634 00:28:41,708 --> 00:28:43,208 that these LSD-like effects 635 00:28:43,208 --> 00:28:47,042 of ergotism could have caused the girls' fits 636 00:28:47,042 --> 00:28:50,250 because they're vivid descriptions of specter 637 00:28:50,250 --> 00:28:51,833 that they had seen 638 00:28:52,958 --> 00:28:54,750 and strange creatures they encountered. 639 00:28:55,917 --> 00:28:58,917 - [Laurence] If ergot poisoning is to blame, 640 00:28:58,917 --> 00:29:03,000 there isn't a soul in Salem who would've known about it. 641 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:04,208 - When William Griggs goes 642 00:29:04,208 --> 00:29:05,958 and sees the Parris girls for the first time 643 00:29:05,958 --> 00:29:07,958 and tries to diagnose them, 644 00:29:07,958 --> 00:29:10,333 he wouldn't have been able to diagnose ergotism 645 00:29:10,333 --> 00:29:11,792 'cause at the time, 646 00:29:11,792 --> 00:29:12,875 it wasn't a thing, 647 00:29:12,875 --> 00:29:14,125 people didn't even know it existed. 648 00:29:14,125 --> 00:29:15,625 - Ergotism is not contagious. 649 00:29:15,625 --> 00:29:18,500 It all depends on who's exposed, 650 00:29:18,500 --> 00:29:19,667 how much they're exposed 651 00:29:19,667 --> 00:29:21,667 to the dose makes the poison. 652 00:29:21,667 --> 00:29:23,042 People throughout the families, 653 00:29:23,042 --> 00:29:25,208 if they're all eating from the same bread, 654 00:29:25,208 --> 00:29:27,375 but they're eating it at different amounts, 655 00:29:27,375 --> 00:29:28,792 they're getting different doses. 656 00:29:28,792 --> 00:29:30,083 - That could have been one of the things 657 00:29:30,083 --> 00:29:31,542 that made it a lot harder for doctors 658 00:29:31,542 --> 00:29:34,417 to try to figure out what exactly was going on in Salem. 659 00:29:36,542 --> 00:29:37,875 - There are some scholars who think 660 00:29:37,875 --> 00:29:41,708 that the ergot poisoning theory is not likely 661 00:29:41,708 --> 00:29:43,042 because one of the things 662 00:29:43,042 --> 00:29:45,042 that would've kind of counteracted that is a diet 663 00:29:45,042 --> 00:29:46,833 that was rich in vitamin A. 664 00:29:46,833 --> 00:29:50,417 Vitamin A can counteract the effects of the ergot. 665 00:29:50,417 --> 00:29:52,333 - Where do you find vitamin A? 666 00:29:52,333 --> 00:29:53,875 From fish. 667 00:29:53,875 --> 00:29:57,292 And the Puritans would have had a regular diet of fish 668 00:29:57,292 --> 00:29:59,708 because a Massachusetts Bay colony right 669 00:29:59,708 --> 00:30:01,250 by the Atlantic Ocean, 670 00:30:01,250 --> 00:30:04,750 and so the Puritans would've had a daily diet of fish. 671 00:30:06,167 --> 00:30:09,083 - Therefore, their vitamin A levels would've been quite high 672 00:30:09,083 --> 00:30:11,292 and ergot maybe wasn't that much of a problem for them. 673 00:30:16,042 --> 00:30:19,000 - [Laurence] The forest surrounding Salem Village 674 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:20,583 is rife with danger. 675 00:30:20,583 --> 00:30:23,750 Not only is there the ongoing war with Native Americans, 676 00:30:23,750 --> 00:30:26,833 bears and wolves prowl the frontier 677 00:30:26,833 --> 00:30:29,042 just beyond the edge of town, 678 00:30:29,042 --> 00:30:30,708 but many believe it's some 679 00:30:30,708 --> 00:30:33,000 of New England's smallest inhabitants 680 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:35,333 that may pose the biggest threat. 681 00:30:38,208 --> 00:30:40,875 - New England has an overpopulation problem 682 00:30:40,875 --> 00:30:43,333 with deer. There's deer all over the place. 683 00:30:43,333 --> 00:30:45,708 - They would come in and actually eat some of the green 684 00:30:45,708 --> 00:30:47,500 that they were growing. 685 00:30:47,500 --> 00:30:48,542 On a positive side, 686 00:30:48,542 --> 00:30:49,833 they also provided venison, 687 00:30:49,833 --> 00:30:50,958 which was a major part 688 00:30:50,958 --> 00:30:53,375 of the diet of the villagers. 689 00:30:53,375 --> 00:30:56,833 - One thing hunters didn't understand in the 17th 690 00:30:56,833 --> 00:30:59,708 century is that with deer comes a bigger problem, 691 00:30:59,708 --> 00:31:00,917 deer ticks. 692 00:31:04,750 --> 00:31:07,500 Lyme disease isn't studied seriously 693 00:31:07,500 --> 00:31:10,208 until the 1970s when a group of children 694 00:31:10,208 --> 00:31:13,042 and adults in Lyme Connecticut contract the disease, 695 00:31:13,042 --> 00:31:14,833 - There were children that were suffering 696 00:31:14,833 --> 00:31:19,458 from joint paralysis, fatigue, rashes. 697 00:31:19,458 --> 00:31:22,292 - [Laurence] Two mothers from the group cracked the case 698 00:31:22,292 --> 00:31:24,583 by conducting their own research 699 00:31:24,583 --> 00:31:27,708 and keeping meticulous notes, 700 00:31:27,708 --> 00:31:30,375 a pattern finally emerges. 701 00:31:30,375 --> 00:31:35,375 Each suffered a tick bite in the Lyme Connecticut area. 702 00:31:36,250 --> 00:31:37,542 - There is evidence to suggest 703 00:31:37,542 --> 00:31:40,250 that this disease existed centuries ago 704 00:31:40,250 --> 00:31:42,542 and also outside of Connecticut, 705 00:31:42,542 --> 00:31:45,792 including in places like Salem in New England. 706 00:31:45,792 --> 00:31:47,000 - In 2008, 707 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:50,417 historian M.M. Drymon publishes a book 708 00:31:50,417 --> 00:31:54,542 in which she contends that Lyme disease was the root cause 709 00:31:54,542 --> 00:31:56,708 of the Salem witch trials. 710 00:31:56,708 --> 00:31:58,167 - In the book, 711 00:31:58,167 --> 00:32:00,042 she writes that the Parris girl symptoms included 712 00:32:00,042 --> 00:32:02,958 intense headaches and the feeling of being pinched 713 00:32:02,958 --> 00:32:05,375 and poked by an invisible force. 714 00:32:05,375 --> 00:32:09,042 Sufferers of Lyme disease also experience intense headaches 715 00:32:09,042 --> 00:32:12,875 and also joint pains that feel like they're being stung. 716 00:32:12,875 --> 00:32:16,083 - One of the telltale signs of infection 717 00:32:16,083 --> 00:32:19,375 with Lyme disease is a bite, the tick bite, 718 00:32:19,375 --> 00:32:22,542 which is surrounded by what's called a bullseye rash. 719 00:32:22,542 --> 00:32:24,958 So a little kind of ring around that bite. 720 00:32:26,167 --> 00:32:28,167 - And what's clear from the early testimonies given 721 00:32:28,167 --> 00:32:30,792 in court is that a number of children ended up 722 00:32:30,792 --> 00:32:34,125 with red marks on their bodies in very distinctive ways. 723 00:32:35,208 --> 00:32:37,000 - You have several children from one family 724 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:39,125 that have red streaks all over their body. 725 00:32:39,125 --> 00:32:41,958 You have another child that says 726 00:32:41,958 --> 00:32:43,208 that they have marks on their body 727 00:32:43,208 --> 00:32:45,000 that looks like stab wounds. 728 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:46,292 Darkest good. 729 00:32:46,292 --> 00:32:48,708 A 4-year-old that was accused of witchcraft 730 00:32:48,708 --> 00:32:53,667 and spent months in jail has a little red wound 731 00:32:53,667 --> 00:32:54,875 on her finger. 732 00:32:54,875 --> 00:32:56,208 That's about the size of a flea bite. 733 00:32:56,208 --> 00:32:57,167 - Now, these were discovered 734 00:32:57,167 --> 00:32:58,542 because at the time, 735 00:32:58,542 --> 00:33:01,708 as part of the interrogation of a witch, 736 00:33:01,708 --> 00:33:05,542 they wanted to see whether women had any strange marks 737 00:33:05,542 --> 00:33:07,125 on their bodies anywhere. 738 00:33:07,125 --> 00:33:08,625 So because of this, 739 00:33:08,625 --> 00:33:12,042 we do have testimonies of various things that were found. 740 00:33:12,042 --> 00:33:13,083 In their minds, 741 00:33:13,083 --> 00:33:14,792 this was proof of the devil. 742 00:33:14,792 --> 00:33:17,125 For us from a scientific perspective, 743 00:33:17,125 --> 00:33:20,625 maybe this was part of the tick bite and the bullseye rash 744 00:33:20,625 --> 00:33:22,375 that they were actually seeing. 745 00:33:22,375 --> 00:33:24,875 - As for why it was largely girls 746 00:33:24,875 --> 00:33:27,708 and women who suffered from these symptoms, 747 00:33:27,708 --> 00:33:29,917 M.M. Drymon has a theory. 748 00:33:29,917 --> 00:33:33,042 - Kids tend to play or interact 749 00:33:33,042 --> 00:33:34,250 with each other on the ground more, 750 00:33:34,250 --> 00:33:37,000 and women wear very long skirts 751 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:39,167 that actually touch the ground physically. 752 00:33:40,375 --> 00:33:41,875 Cloth is fibrous 753 00:33:41,875 --> 00:33:44,292 and it's a perfect little attachment point 754 00:33:44,292 --> 00:33:46,625 for a tick to grab onto. 755 00:33:47,583 --> 00:33:48,792 - It's certainly plausible 756 00:33:48,792 --> 00:33:52,125 that a couple of children could have been playing out 757 00:33:52,125 --> 00:33:53,208 in the woods 758 00:33:53,208 --> 00:33:54,792 and have gotten bitten by a tick 759 00:33:54,792 --> 00:33:56,625 and come down with Lyme disease. 760 00:33:58,042 --> 00:33:59,667 - You don't have to interact with a deer 761 00:33:59,667 --> 00:34:01,625 or wildlife to get a deer tick. 762 00:34:01,625 --> 00:34:04,667 These ticks will travel around in the grass looking 763 00:34:04,667 --> 00:34:06,667 for their latest prey. 764 00:34:06,667 --> 00:34:07,875 - Nowadays, of course, 765 00:34:07,875 --> 00:34:08,583 we don't have that much to worry about. 766 00:34:08,583 --> 00:34:10,125 With Lyme disease. 767 00:34:10,125 --> 00:34:12,542 It's easily treated with antibiotics, with penicillin. 768 00:34:12,542 --> 00:34:16,333 - However, penicillin wasn't a thing until the 1930s, 769 00:34:16,333 --> 00:34:20,500 so about 250 years after the Salem witch trials. 770 00:34:20,500 --> 00:34:23,250 - Not only can Lyme disease cause rashes, 771 00:34:23,250 --> 00:34:26,542 some experts believe it could also explain some 772 00:34:26,542 --> 00:34:29,708 of the girls' more extreme symptoms. 773 00:34:29,708 --> 00:34:31,042 - With Lyme disease, it's rare, 774 00:34:31,042 --> 00:34:33,375 but it can become a neurotoxicant 775 00:34:33,375 --> 00:34:37,000 that can cause various type of neurological issues, 776 00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:38,208 changes in behavior, 777 00:34:38,208 --> 00:34:39,750 seeing things that aren't there. 778 00:34:41,375 --> 00:34:44,750 There appear to have been long-term health effects. 779 00:34:44,750 --> 00:34:46,375 Abigail stays sick 780 00:34:46,375 --> 00:34:48,458 and in fact doesn't live very long 781 00:34:48,458 --> 00:34:50,625 after the close of these trials. 782 00:34:51,167 --> 00:34:53,833 - It is possible that both Abigail 783 00:34:53,833 --> 00:34:57,625 and Anne Putnam were victims of not witchcraft, 784 00:34:57,625 --> 00:34:58,708 just Lyme disease 785 00:35:02,500 --> 00:35:04,917 - [Laurence] Life in 1692 Salem isn't 786 00:35:04,917 --> 00:35:06,708 for the faint of heart. 787 00:35:06,708 --> 00:35:09,875 Not only do devoted Puritans worry about hellfire 788 00:35:09,875 --> 00:35:12,333 and brimstone in the afterlife, 789 00:35:12,333 --> 00:35:16,958 they also worry about bewitchment in the here and now. 790 00:35:16,958 --> 00:35:18,583 Centuries later, 791 00:35:18,583 --> 00:35:22,292 we know sorcery didn't cause the Salem girls' symptoms, 792 00:35:22,292 --> 00:35:26,167 but the real culprit has yet to be identified. 793 00:35:26,167 --> 00:35:28,542 - There are a lot of potential root causes 794 00:35:28,542 --> 00:35:30,583 that could have led to the Salem witch trials. 795 00:35:30,583 --> 00:35:33,875 You have a lot of fear and paranoia in these communities. 796 00:35:33,875 --> 00:35:34,875 Why? 797 00:35:34,875 --> 00:35:36,250 You're living in the woods, 798 00:35:36,250 --> 00:35:37,708 animals could get you. 799 00:35:37,708 --> 00:35:39,542 You might not plant your crop the right way, 800 00:35:39,542 --> 00:35:41,167 which could lead to a shortage of food, 801 00:35:41,167 --> 00:35:42,417 which means you have to worry 802 00:35:42,417 --> 00:35:45,333 about how you're gonna survive for a winter. 803 00:35:45,333 --> 00:35:47,625 There are historical accounts that suggest 804 00:35:47,625 --> 00:35:50,708 that the consumption of certain types of plants, 805 00:35:50,708 --> 00:35:51,792 one in particular, 806 00:35:51,792 --> 00:35:54,292 just might play a major role. 807 00:35:59,375 --> 00:36:03,292 - Jimsonweed is a very common roadside weed. 808 00:36:03,292 --> 00:36:05,458 It is part of the nightshade family. 809 00:36:05,458 --> 00:36:07,833 It does have hallucinogenic properties 810 00:36:07,833 --> 00:36:10,167 and it is native to North America 811 00:36:10,167 --> 00:36:13,208 - Jimsonweed produces a small egg-shaped fruit 812 00:36:13,208 --> 00:36:15,167 about two inches in diameter, 813 00:36:15,167 --> 00:36:17,667 and usually it's most harmful to cattle 814 00:36:17,667 --> 00:36:20,500 and other wild animals who die after they eat it. 815 00:36:20,500 --> 00:36:22,333 - [Laurence] The plant has large white 816 00:36:22,333 --> 00:36:25,250 or purple trumpet-shaped flowers, 817 00:36:25,250 --> 00:36:27,083 just the kind of wild flower 818 00:36:27,083 --> 00:36:29,417 that might attract a young girl's eye. 819 00:36:30,833 --> 00:36:32,250 - It's very plausible that women 820 00:36:32,250 --> 00:36:34,208 and children are picking the jimsonweed 821 00:36:34,208 --> 00:36:36,375 because they are a flowering fruit. 822 00:36:36,375 --> 00:36:38,625 - We look at the historical background of this plant. 823 00:36:38,625 --> 00:36:43,042 We find that it is in fact linked to occultism 824 00:36:43,042 --> 00:36:45,542 and to elements of dark magic 825 00:36:46,667 --> 00:36:49,250 - With its hallucinogenic properties, 826 00:36:49,250 --> 00:36:52,542 jimsonweed has been associated with various cultural 827 00:36:52,542 --> 00:36:55,250 and spiritual practices throughout history, 828 00:36:55,250 --> 00:36:57,708 including witchcraft. 829 00:36:57,708 --> 00:37:00,500 - Jimsonweed has been linked to paganism 830 00:37:00,500 --> 00:37:03,042 and it has been used to alter one's consciousness 831 00:37:03,042 --> 00:37:05,375 and it can and do hallucinations. 832 00:37:05,375 --> 00:37:08,625 - It's possible that the girls came in contact 833 00:37:08,625 --> 00:37:10,458 with jimsonweed either outside 834 00:37:10,458 --> 00:37:13,542 or in the house on the day of the Venus Glass incident. 835 00:37:14,667 --> 00:37:16,250 - [Laurence] There are even suggestions 836 00:37:16,250 --> 00:37:18,667 that there is a member of the Salem community 837 00:37:18,667 --> 00:37:22,417 who would already be familiar with these practices. 838 00:37:22,417 --> 00:37:24,500 According to some historians, 839 00:37:24,500 --> 00:37:28,708 Tituba may well be from a Caribbean tribe called 840 00:37:28,708 --> 00:37:31,500 the Arawak who are known to use jimsonweed for medicinal 841 00:37:31,500 --> 00:37:33,458 and ceremonial purposes. 842 00:37:34,458 --> 00:37:36,625 - Native American groups at the time, 843 00:37:36,625 --> 00:37:39,708 and maybe even Tituba herself, 844 00:37:39,708 --> 00:37:44,750 often are using jimsonweed as part of religious rituals. 845 00:37:46,167 --> 00:37:48,292 These could be made into cakes 846 00:37:48,292 --> 00:37:50,958 and these gems and cakes would be ingested 847 00:37:50,958 --> 00:37:54,292 - The alter state of consciousness that it invites 848 00:37:54,292 --> 00:37:57,417 might, for example, allow someone to commune 849 00:37:57,417 --> 00:37:59,583 with their ancestors or with some higher power. 850 00:38:01,250 --> 00:38:02,708 - [Laurence] The use of jimsonweed 851 00:38:02,708 --> 00:38:06,333 as a hallucinogenic has been confirmed more recently. 852 00:38:06,333 --> 00:38:08,375 - There were four teenagers in Los Angeles 853 00:38:08,375 --> 00:38:10,625 that actually brewed their jimsonweed tea 854 00:38:10,625 --> 00:38:13,167 and experienced psychedelic effects. 855 00:38:13,167 --> 00:38:14,417 - They were really successful 856 00:38:14,417 --> 00:38:16,375 and they got really high. 857 00:38:16,375 --> 00:38:17,333 And by high, 858 00:38:17,333 --> 00:38:18,542 I mean that the symptoms 859 00:38:18,542 --> 00:38:20,333 that they experienced were very similar 860 00:38:20,333 --> 00:38:22,833 to the hallucinations 861 00:38:22,833 --> 00:38:24,833 and things that were described as a part 862 00:38:24,833 --> 00:38:29,792 of the original Parris girls experiences in the 1690s. 863 00:38:31,042 --> 00:38:34,417 - If these girls had been ingesting jimson cakes, 864 00:38:34,417 --> 00:38:36,708 could they have believed that the hallucinations 865 00:38:36,708 --> 00:38:38,708 that they were having were real? 866 00:38:38,708 --> 00:38:40,875 That seems entirely possible. 867 00:38:40,875 --> 00:38:43,208 - They were doing this very secretive thing possibly 868 00:38:43,208 --> 00:38:46,042 that they knew they weren't supposed to do. 869 00:38:46,042 --> 00:38:49,375 And that, of course, led to feeding into this idea 870 00:38:49,375 --> 00:38:51,625 of we should be punished for our crime. 871 00:38:52,625 --> 00:38:55,417 - However, as the accusations grow 872 00:38:55,417 --> 00:39:00,208 and more and more accusers also appear in the village, 873 00:39:00,208 --> 00:39:02,583 it seems unlikely that they're all kind 874 00:39:02,583 --> 00:39:04,708 of binging on jimson cakes. 875 00:39:06,125 --> 00:39:08,833 - Whatever the cause of the witch trials in the first place, 876 00:39:08,833 --> 00:39:11,458 it takes an outsider to end them. 877 00:39:11,458 --> 00:39:14,125 Reverend Increase Mather of Boston, 878 00:39:14,125 --> 00:39:15,917 father of Cotton Mather, 879 00:39:15,917 --> 00:39:18,667 encourages cooler heads to prevail, 880 00:39:20,208 --> 00:39:21,417 - Though he still believes 881 00:39:21,417 --> 00:39:23,000 that the devil is at work in Salem, 882 00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:24,583 he thinks it's at work 883 00:39:24,583 --> 00:39:26,667 and actually the people who are making the accusations 884 00:39:26,667 --> 00:39:28,875 rather than the people who are accused. 885 00:39:28,875 --> 00:39:32,500 Mather proclaims that is better for 10 suspected witches 886 00:39:32,500 --> 00:39:36,208 to be set free than for one person who's innocent 887 00:39:36,208 --> 00:39:38,333 to be executed. 888 00:39:38,333 --> 00:39:41,000 And although the stain never disappears, 889 00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:44,458 things do quiet down in this little town. 890 00:39:45,458 --> 00:39:47,125 - When it's all said and done, 891 00:39:47,125 --> 00:39:48,708 the people who were caught up 892 00:39:48,708 --> 00:39:51,208 in that fervor may look back on it and and say, 893 00:39:51,208 --> 00:39:52,667 "It's all in the past 894 00:39:52,667 --> 00:39:54,125 and the devil made me do it." 895 00:39:55,917 --> 00:39:59,250 - In 1697, the legislature of Massachusetts, 896 00:39:59,250 --> 00:40:01,167 which was called the General Court, 897 00:40:01,167 --> 00:40:04,542 they declare a day of fasting to atone for the sins 898 00:40:04,542 --> 00:40:06,000 that they'd committed at Salem 899 00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:08,708 during the events at the Salem witch trials. 900 00:40:08,708 --> 00:40:12,042 1702, the Superior Court of Judicature declared 901 00:40:12,042 --> 00:40:15,625 that the events that had happened were unlawful 902 00:40:16,583 --> 00:40:19,125 and the results of that were void. 903 00:40:19,125 --> 00:40:20,542 - I think if there's a lesson 904 00:40:20,542 --> 00:40:24,917 to be learned is that the dangers of instilling fear 905 00:40:25,917 --> 00:40:28,292 in a population are real 906 00:40:28,292 --> 00:40:33,125 and that very easily neighbors can turn against one another. 907 00:40:34,833 --> 00:40:37,000 - It reveals something about how people behave 908 00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:38,208 when they're together. 909 00:40:38,208 --> 00:40:40,750 It reveals something about tribalism and human nature. 910 00:40:40,750 --> 00:40:42,875 - It's hard in many ways to believe 911 00:40:42,875 --> 00:40:45,875 that all this happened on American soil. 912 00:40:45,875 --> 00:40:48,875 We tend to associate the whole witch hunts, 913 00:40:48,875 --> 00:40:52,750 the burning of witches with medieval Europe, 914 00:40:52,750 --> 00:40:55,792 not with what happens in Massachusetts for God's sakes. 915 00:40:58,875 --> 00:41:02,167 - The Salem witch trials are an infamous stain 916 00:41:02,167 --> 00:41:03,833 on American history, 917 00:41:03,833 --> 00:41:07,042 a cautionary tale about the dangers of groupthink 918 00:41:07,042 --> 00:41:09,083 and unfounded accusations. 919 00:41:09,083 --> 00:41:12,208 We may never know for certain what caused a group of girls 920 00:41:12,208 --> 00:41:15,458 to suffer those disturbing symptoms more than 300 years ago 921 00:41:15,458 --> 00:41:17,500 in Salem, Massachusetts. 922 00:41:17,500 --> 00:41:20,208 But whether they were brought on by disease, toxins, 923 00:41:20,208 --> 00:41:21,542 or mass hysteria, 924 00:41:21,542 --> 00:41:23,083 one thing is true, 925 00:41:23,083 --> 00:41:27,500 executing 20 innocent people was never a cure. 926 00:41:27,500 --> 00:41:29,042 I'm Laurence Fishburne. 927 00:41:29,042 --> 00:41:32,667 Thank you for watching History's Greatest Mysteries.