Matt Doeden - The Salem Witch Trials: An Interactive History Adventure

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YOU are living in the Massachusetts Colony during the late 1600s. The colony is filled with deeply religious colonists who struggle to survive. Just the mention of witchcraft causes panic.

In this book youll explore how the choices people made meant the difference between life and death. The events youll experience happened to real people.

Chapter One sets the scene. Then you choose which path to read. Follow the links at the bottom of each page as you read the stories. The decisions you make will change your outcome. After you finish one path, go back and read the others for new perspectives and more adventures. Use your device's back buttons or page navigation to jump back to your last choice.

YOU CHOOSE the path you take through history.

Life in the colony of Massachusetts in 1692 was little like life today. The colony was small. Its population was scattered. People were in constant danger. Crop failure, disease, harsh winters, and wars with American Indians made life difficult.

Christianity was at the heart of every community. Massachusetts had many . Puritans were very strict in their Christian beliefs. They believed that God and the devil played active roles in their lives. Good fortune was a blessing from God. Bad fortune often was considered the work of the devil. To the Puritans, the devil often tried to make people question their faith.

Puritans dressed simply and believed in lives filled with work and prayer.

The Puritans believed that some people struck deals with the devil. In exchange for doing evil, the devil gave them powers. These people were called witches. Puritans believed witches actions could destroy good Christian people and communities. Many said there was only one way to deal with a witch. A convicted witch had to die.

The Puritans had long believed in witches. But in 1692 everything changed. For reasons that even today are not fully clear, 1692 marked the beginning of a widespread witch hunt. The accusations were centered in the village of Salem. Two Salem girls, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, began to accuse others in the village of using the devils powers to torment them. Many people were arrested and put on trial.

Salem was the most famous Massachusetts village to round up accused witches. But it wasnt the only one. Over the next year, fear of witchcraft grew. Neighbors accused neighbors. Family members desperately tried to prove the innocence of their loved ones. Clergymen, community leaders, and court officers called struggled to understand what was happening.

People turned on their friends and neighbors, accusing them of practicing witchcraft.

Life in Salem and other Puritan villages during this time was difficult. For the accused, their lives and reputations hung in the balance. Accusers had to worry about the consequences of their actions. How people viewed the events taking place would have depended largely on their situation. Were they accused? Was a friend or family member accused? Or did they believe that someone else might be a witch?

How will you choose to experience this time in history?

Its 1692. The sun shines on the snow-covered ground. Your family and neighbors walk together into the village of Salem. Even though you are going to church, the men carry . You trust them to protect you from bears, Indians, or anything else that might threaten you.

You catch the gaze of your neighbor Susanna. At age 15, Susanna is just a year younger than you, but youre not friends. You think Susanna is rude and selfish. She doesnt like you either. She sneers at you and turns away.

Church was an important part of Puritan life. Everyone was expected to regularly attend services.

The church is filled with people. As the Reverend Samuel Parris leads the service, everyone looks concerned. The events of the past few weeks have been hard to understand.

The accusations started with two young girls, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams. The two girls began acting oddly. They screamed and spoke words no one could understand. Their bodies twisted into uncomfortable positions.

The girls believed their behavior was caused by witchcraft and accused three women of casting spells on them. Two, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne, are Puritan women. The other is a slave woman named Tituba.

Now more and more people are accusing their neighbors of witchcraft. It all makes little sense to you. You know most of the people who are accused. Its hard to believe they would make a deal with the devil.

After church you notice Susanna talking to the Reverend Parris 9-year-old daughter, Betty. She is one of the girls who have accused people of witchcraft. Betty and Susanna then rush up to the minister and begin talking to him. At one point, Susanna turns and points at you. You shiver with fear. What are they telling him?

You turn to leave, but the minister and several other men are coming your way. Your father sees this and moves between you and the men.

Step aside, Joseph Herrick tells your father.

What is this? Father asks.

Your daughter stands accused of witchcraft. We must take her in for questioning.

Youll take this girl over my dead body! Father shouts. You know that he will fight for you, but you dont want to see him hurt.

Father shoves one of the men, knocking him to the ground. But others quickly grab Father and hold him back.

Stop! you shout. I will go with you. Let my father go!

No! Dont! Father yells, but its too late. The men are leading you away to be questioned.

This is in Gods hands now, Parris tells Father as youre taken to a nearby inn. If your daughter is innocent, he will save her.

At the inn John Hathorne, a magistrate, begins to question you. Did you make a deal with the devil? he asks. The Reverend Parris listens at his side.

No! Of course not! you answer.

Susanna tells us she has seen you sticking pins into small dolls. She says you sometimes speak in a strange language. She has seen you with the slave woman Tituba, a confessed witch. Susanna says you appear at her bedside at night and torment her. Why do you do these things?

You insist that none of it is true. You try to explain that Susanna doesnt like you and never has. But Hathorne just keeps asking questions.