8. A Cautionary Tale of Collective Hysteria and Public Panic
The Salem Witch Trials were marked by a lack of due process. Most jarring to modern sensibilities was the use of “spectral evidence” – basically, testimony by witnesses that they dreamt or had a vision that the spirit or “spectre” of the accused witch did them harm. Thus, an accuser’s dream or vision that “Jane Doe bit, hit, and punched me“, became admissible evidence that Jane Doe had actually bit, hit, and punched the accuser. Even if the unfortunate Doe was nowhere near the accuser that day, her spectre was. Respected theologian and reverend Cotton Mather wrote the court cautioning against the use of spectral evidence, but he was ignored.
The colony’s governor finally shut down the trials and the ever-expanding circle of accusations when his own wife was accused of being a witch. By then, the widespread panic had gotten over 200 people accused of witchcraft, and 20 had already been hanged. Eventually, the authorities admitted that the trials had been a mistake, and compensated the families of the wrongly convicted victims. The Salem panic and resultant trials became synonymous with paranoia and injustice, and stand today as a cautionary tale about the dangers of religious extremism, false accusations, and the lack of due process.
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