Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Primary Sources
In this image, a woman named Ann Hibbins is about to be executed for witchcraft. This
image shows how brutal the punishments were if one were considered a witch. We use
this image to depict the intensity of the trials and to draw attention to the heart of the
story. This source taught us that the town had no mercy for the accused and delivered the
punishment they thought the women deserved. We recommend this source to anyone
looking for images to use for projects about the Salem witch trials.
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. New York Historical Society, 2017,
www.gilderlehrman.org/content/cotton-mather%E2%80%99s-account-salem-witch-trials
On this web page we found an article from 1693 written by Cotton Mather, an author and
preacher in Salem Village at the time of the trials. His account is from a preacher’s
perspective, discussing how he coped with the madness and how he could tell if someone
followed the devil or not. The website has an excerpt from the book which explains what
Mr. Mather felt during the trials. We use this source for the “heart of the story” portion of
our project, because it shows what life was like during those terrible times. We
Prior to the Salem witch trials, Europe held witch hunts between the 14th and 18th
centuries. This source provides background information for the Salem witch trials and
shows how suspicion of witchcraft was present around the world. Francesco Maria
Guazzo, the author of Compendium Maleficarum, created this image depicting the devil
witch-hunters written in 1608. The image pulled from this book shows how people were
In the British Library. A Witch and Her Familiars. 1621. Encyclopædia Britannica,
Britannica’s article on the Salem witch trials provides this image only known as being ‘in
the British Library.’ The image, titled A Witch and Her Familiars, shows a woman
witchcraft as the spiritual pets of witches. In some contexts, familiars are inhabited by
demons. We need this image in our project because it shows how people characterized
from thence, to a Gentleman in London.” Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and
Deodat Lawson wrote in a letter to Nathaniel Higgenson “thorns also in like kind were
thrust into their flesh; the accusers were sometimes struck dumb, deaf, blind, and
sometimes lay as if they were dead for a while.” This letter explains the terrible things
that may happen to someone accused of witchcraft. This source provides evidence
regarding how bystanders felt and how the accused witches were treated.
This website has articles about the Salem witch trials along with a picture of a letter from
a victim. It shows what the charges were against some of the citizens. We know this
source is credible because it is the Library of Congress which is a trusted site across the
United States. We use this website for the heart of the story because it is a primary source
and helps explain the charges. We recommend this source to anyone looking for a great
primary source.
Library of Congress. United States Legislative Information, 2017,
On this site we found a few primary resources, such as excerpts from books written by
citizens of Salem Village during the trials. They tell stories of the accused and the actions
that took place when someone was convicted. We use this source for background, heart
of the story, and short term impact because it shows that there were many outcomes and
consequences for those accused of witchcraft and how these changed and worsened over
time. We recommend this website to people looking for facts and images to use in a
project.
Sewall, Samuel. “The Diary of Samuel Sewall, 1674-1729.” Samuel Sewall, vol. 5, no. 5, 1878,
pp. 358+. Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project,
Samuel Sewall was a judge during the Salem witch trials who kept a diary detailing his
experience. Sewall said, “About noon, at Salem, Giles Corey was pressíd to death for
standing Mute; much pains was used with him two days, one after another, by the Court
and Capt. Gardner of Nantucket who had been of his acquaintance: but all in vain.” This
quote puts into perspective why Sewall publicly apologized for his actions during the
trials by showing how Sewall’s feelings changed into regret. The Salem Documentary
Archive and Transcription Project contains detailed letters, court cases, maps, and more
Documentary Archive and Transcription Project, Benjamin Ray and the Rector and
Within this database is a letter written to John Cotton, a clergyman during the Salem
witch trials. In this letter, the man writing to Cotton said, “Our good God is working of
miracles. Five witches were lately executed, impudently demanding of God a miraculous
vindication of their innocency.” By reading the rest of this letter, we learn how people
felt. For example, the man is thanking God for sending witches to be killed. We use this
letter to add quotes to our site. Once again, the Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive
On this site, we found multiple documents and letters from people accused of witchcraft
in the 1690s who wrote home to their families about their innocence, guilt, and many
other topics. Each document has a small article accompanying it, explaining the image
which provided even more information. This source will be used for the short term
impact and background portions of our site. We recommend this website to students who
www.faculty.umb.edu/gary_zabel/Courses/Phil%20281b/Philosophy%20of%20Magic/Ar
This website provides actual quotes from the Malleus Maleficarum, a witch hunter’s
manual from the 15th century. We needed to include what witchcraft looked like
throughout time, including the time periods before the Salem witch trials.
Secondary Sources
Baker, Emerson W. A Part of Proctor’s Ledge. Jan. 2016. Salem State University History
2018.
During the Salem witch trials, those who were convicted of witchcraft were sentenced to
hanging on Proctor’s Ledge, a slope in Massachusetts. Nearly 250 years later, Salem
State University released this photograph of that hill today. The photo shows that people
still visit the location many centuries later. Salem State University recently presented new
details regarding the Salem witch trials on their database, which includes facts about
Proctor’s Ledge.
Brooks, Rebecca Beatrice. “Thomas Putnam: Ringleader of the Salem Witch Hunt?” History of
historyofmassachusetts.org/thomas-putnam-ringleader-of-the-salem-witch-hunt/.
From this article, we found information about Thomas Putnam. Thomas Putnam was
involved in a rivalry with another family in Salem Village at the time of the Salem witch
trials. We learned that Thomas Putnam took part in 43 cases, while his daughter testified
in 62 cases. We needed this information because the buildup section of our project was
lacking effectiveness. We want to show that Thomas Putnam had a role in moving the
Salem Witch Trials, a lithograph created by William A. Crafts, displays what a trial
would look like if one were considered a ‘witch.’ In the image, a girl is lying on the
ground while the people around her are pointing at her. The surrounding citizens are
trying to convince the judge that the devil is within her. The image shows that the Salem
witch trials were tumultuous and uncivilized, thus we can prove that there was serious
2015.
The explanation given by Joan Holub in What Were the Salem Witch Trials? puts
perspective on how dark the trials were and just how frantic people became. One prime
example of desperation that Holub wrote about was the witch cake incident of 1692. The
people of Salem Village were convinced two young girls, Betty and Abigail, were
performing witchcraft. One woman, Mary Sibley, took precautions to the extreme when
she gave the girls’ slaves a recipe for witch cake. This recipe called for rye flour and the
girls’ urine to be baked in the ashes of a fireplace. After cooking the cake, it was to be fed
to a dog in order for the witch to feel every painful bite. Joan Holub has over 60 books in
print. Although the books in this series are considered children’s books, there is still
“Massachusetts Clears 5 from Salem Witch Trials.” The New York Times, The New York Times
Company, 2018,
www.nytimes.com/2001/11/02/us/massachusetts-clears-5-from-salem-witch-trials.html.
This website helped us gain information regarding why the victims of the Salem Witch
Trials were not fully exonerated until 2001. Twenty-two out of the thirty-three victims
were exonerated in 1957, which left 11 still guilty almost 250 years after the trials. The
descendants of the accused wanted justice for their ancestors and kept fighting for their
exonerations until the state of Massachusetts declared all 33 citizens innocent. We will
use this source to display how the trials affect us today. We recommend this resource to
students looking for the long term impact of the Salem Witch Trials.
2017.
The Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project provides not
only letters, maps, and diaries, but images as well. Thompkins H. Matteson
painted Examination of a Witch as a way to depict the harsh realities of the Salem witch
trials. In the painting, a girl is being stripped of her clothing in a courtroom to find
evidence of a witch’s mark, a symbol of the witch's presence. The image demonstrates
McGuire, Carolyn. Salem Witch Trials Memorial. 2016. The Salem Award Foundation, Cabot
2018.
This photograph is used to show the long term effect of the Salem witch trials, because it
shows a close-up of the memorial in Salem. In the picture, there are flowers on a stone
with ‘Sarah Wildes’ carved into it along with the date of her execution. This image
displays the impact that a single death had on history. Carolyn McGuire, the
photographer, wanted to capture the essence of those that were disturbed enough by the
history, and politics. From this magazine’s online source, we were able to pull an image
that was not created until 1845, over 150 years after the Salem witch trials ended. This
will benefit our project because it shows what people still thought about the trials a
century later. In the illustration there is a woman hanging outside a window, surrounded
by people. Inside the room, two ladies sit calmly knitting; completely ignoring the
Public Broadcasting Service. “Samuel Sewall.” Africans in America, PBS Online, 1998,
The Public Broadcasting Service, or PBS, has provided the United States with
trustworthy information for almost 50 years. PBS released a series of articles involving
Africans in America. While that may not directly tie in with the Salem witch trials,
Samuel Sewall does. In one of the articles, Sewall is featured as a judge who helped free
a slave named Adam. However, the article also mentioned the public apology he gave in
Howard Pyle created an eerie image of the arrest of a woman accused of being a witch. In
the painting, it clearly shows that the witch is an “old hag,” as said by the Salem Witch
Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project. This database was published by
the University of Virginia in 2010, and their mission was to provide researchers and
students documents about the Salem witch trials. In addition to documents, there are
images, letters, and diaries provided on the website. The image shows both the reactions
Rice, Earle, Jr. The Salem Witch Trials. San Diego, CA, Lucent Books, 1997. Famous Trials
Series.
This book was our first source and gave us a foundation for our research. We learned
crucial information such as the starting point for the trials in 1648, which was much
earlier than we previously thought. Author Earle Rice Jr. has written over 30 historical
books. The Salem witch trials is part of a series that Rice helped create called Famous
Trials. The series touches on famous courtroom debacles in history that include the trial
of Socrates and the Nuremberg trials. We also learned that prior to the Salem witch trials,
there was a witchcraft frenzy that prompted England and Scotland to proclaim witchcraft
a felony in 1542, as well as grant the death penalty to anyone using witchcraft to kill
someone in 1563. Information from this source helped us provide buildup to the Salem
witch trials.
Roach, Marilynne K. “Salem Witch Museum.” Salem Witch Museum, 2016,
From this source, we gathered information about the Salem witch trials that was not
included in other sources. This site promotes a museum in Salem, Massachusetts that is
dedicated to the trials. This source is credible because the author, Marilynne K. Roach,
has been researching the Salem witch trials for over four decades. She has written two
notable books on the topic. Moreover, she graduated with a BFA from Massachusetts
College of Arts. I would recommend this website to anyone who is trying to gain general
Russell, Jeffrey Burton, and Ioan M. Lewis. “Witchcraft.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 22 Aug.
We needed details on the background of the Salem witch trials, specifically the paranoia
that preceded the trials. In this Britannica article, we learned about the witch hunts that
occurred in Europe between the 14th and 18th centuries. This information supported the
assertion that beliefs about witchcraft transferred to America from Europe. Britannica
included this article for students and researchers seeking information regarding witchcraft
throughout time and across the world. We are confident this source is credible because
many schools, including ours, trust Britannica for reliable information on topics such as
2018.
This website shows pictures and facts about the memorial that was created by James
Cutler and Maggie Smith on August 5, 1992. On the stone memorial, victims’ protests
are written on the floor and the names of the victims are inscribed on it as well. The
website claims that this memorial “is designed to be a place of respect and reflection.”
This website is valuable to our Salem witch trials project because it shows the long term
effect by displaying the memorial that was created centuries after the event happened.
This proves that the Salem witch trials had a long term impact on history and people
This source is filled with the names of the victims from the Salem witch trials and
includes facts on each of them. It details the charges against each and whether or not they
plead guilty in court. Additionally, if they were sentenced, it explains their punishment.
We use this source to describe the short term impact as it shows how many innocent
citizens were convicted. We recommend this website to students looking for in-depth
This webpage discusses the religious causes of the Salem witch trials, as well as some of
the conspiracy theories that correlate with events happening in the world today. This is
used to discuss long term impact, as these theories correlate with many real world
problems today. We also use this information for the background, because it discusses
why people became hysterical. We recommend this site to students studying the
Salem Witch Trials. 2017. Library of Congress, United States Legislative Information, 2017,
From this website, we used an image of a man’s court hearing. He was accused of
sorcery. In the picture, the man is “casting a spell” on the audience and judge, hoping to
manipulate them into giving him no sentence. We use this source to show that while
everyone accused did not have any actual powers, some thought they did. We
recommend this website to anyone looking for a credible source containing information
on narrow topics.
Salem Witch Trials Legal Documents Project. C-SPan, 2017. C-Span, National Cable Satellite
Corporation,
www.c-span.org/video/?429605-1/salem-witch-trials-legal-documents-project. Accessed
13 Dec. 2017.
This video is about the legal documents from the Salem Witch Trials. It contains pictures
of the actual documents, including the date and the charge. It is an interview with
Emerson Baker, in which he explains the content of each document. This document is
helpful to our short term impact. We recommend this video to people looking for detailed
Salem Witch Trials 101. C-Span, 2017. C-Span, National Cable Satellite Corporation,
This video is an interview with Mr. Emerson Baker, a professor who has studied the
Salem Witch Trials for over forty years and has written two books about the topic. He
explains the basics of the witch trials in Salem including how and why it happened. He
also gives details on the court cases and journal entries from citizens. We will use this
video to gain knowledge on the background of the trials. We recommend this source to
Shea, Andrea. Proctor’s Ledge Memorial. July 2017. The ARTery, WBUR, 19 July 2017,
2018.
The long term effect of the Salem witch trials, centuries later, is easily seen in this image
of the memorial that was created. Proctor’s Ledge was a hill used during the Salem witch
trials for hanging those convicted of witchcraft. Near the base of the hill is a new
Thomas Slatterwhite Noble won the silver medal at the 1869 Cincinnati Industrial
Exposition for Witch Hill, or sometimes known as The Salem Martyr. This oil painting
depicts the fear and treatment of the accused during the Salem witch trials. Witch Hill
was the location where witches were sent to their deaths, which is depicted in this image.
We conducted an interview with Rachel Christ and Stacy Tinley during which we gained
valuable information relating to specific details of the Salem witch trials. Tinley is
the Director of Communications at the Salem Witch Museum, and she told us how laws
today may not be directly tied to the trials. However, she reminded us that it is human
nature for lawmakers to think about previous instances of disaster trials. Christ, another
expert at the Salem Witch Museum, also provided facts that will support us when we
explain the long and short-term impact of the Salem witch trials. The Salem Witch
Museum is dedicated to remembering the 20 innocent people that were killed during the
trials.
Upham, W.P. Map of Salem Village 1692. 1866, Charles W. Upham’s Salem Witchcraft, With
Charles Upham was the author of Salem Witchcraft Volumes I & II and decided to create
a map of 1692 Salem, Massachusetts. The map includes landmarks, sectors, and bodies of
water located in Salem village. Including a map provides setting and more context to our
information. We are confident this source is credible because the Salem Witch Trials
Documentary Archive and Transcription Project is partnered with the Scholars’ Lab of
the University of Virginia Library. The Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and
Transcription Project provides transcripts of all the court cases as well as maps and
Van der Linde, Laurel. The Devil In Salem Village. Laurel van der Linde, 1992.
This book was filled with facts not commonly found. The information helps us build our
background, because it has information regarding the events leading up to the trials. For
example, the slave of the minister who babysat his children would put egg whites into a
glass of water and tell the girls stories of witchcraft from her native land, kick-starting the
abnormal behavior in the kids. We recommend this book to anyone looking for
George H. Walker created this lithograph in order to depict what a witch trial might have
looked like in the late 1600’s. However, Witch Trial in Salem, Massachusetts was not
created until 1892, making this a secondary source. Using this in our website shows
exactly what a trial would consist of; a worried jury and wild accusations. This image
was found on Britannica, a trusted source many students and researchers use for articles
and pictures that apply to a variety of categories such as science, history, and arts and
culture.
Wallenfeldt, Jeff. “Salem Witch Trials.” Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 26 Jan.
2017.
Using this website we were able to analyze the impact the Salem witch trials had on
today. Britannica gives details regarding the aftermath and how the trials contributed to
later change is our court systems. For example, the right to guarantee legal representation,
the right to cross-examine one’s accuser, and the presumption of innocence rather than
guilt. The author, Jeff Wallenfeldt, works for Britannica as an editor, manager, and writer
for geography and history. Britannica is an online source valued and designated credible