Witchology 101

When pilgrims first arrived upon Plymouth’s shores, They were wary of Indian customs and things they didn’t know- Suspect of the Indians having powers from the devil, and more, The belief of witches inside their own colonies did grow- Witchcraft suspicions weren't confined to one colony alone, Many believed Satan himself could possess both body and soul- Behavior was questioned - whether outside or inside a home, And accusations towards those disliked - sometimes a personal goal- In 1642, Connecticut made witchcraft punishable by death, And for 108 years it remained as a capital crime- Twelve executed before 1692 crying “innocent” until their last breath, Witch-hunts became more prolific, right after this time- Witch trials are a period of dark history for us, Mass hysteria flourished in Massachusetts, Salem town- When eight girls ate rye fungus then acted odd and made a fuss, “BEWITCHED” the doctor said, for no cause of illness could be found- Initially only three accused, but the list grew as time went on, Until thirty were identified as witches by the end- Both men and women were named and it didn’t take long, For the infamous Salem Witch Trials to begin- Nineteen women were hanged on Gallows Hill in 1692, And a man not answering charges, was pressed to death by stones- Fifty more died in prison awaiting trial for witchcraft review, The court would convict on verbal testimony alone- Only one of the eight trial judges had a conscientious reaction, Presiding Judge Samuel Sewall, publicly apologized five years later- For his condemnations, he felt a tremendous dissatisfaction, Begging for forgiveness, his remorse couldn’t have been greater- In 1750, witchcraft was removed as a crime in our colonial society, The Puritans who had fled the grasps of England’s persecuting hand- And tasted freedom had gained some bad notoriety, When they persecuted those different, on their new American land-