After the prisoners awaiting trial on charges of practicing witchcraft were granted amnesty (pardoned) in 1693, the accusers and judges showed hardly any remorse for executing twenty people and causing others to languish in jails. Jurors and townspeople also managed to maintain a clear conscience by claiming that, after all, many victims had confessed to their “crimes” and that the Salem, Massachusetts, community had been tricked by the devil. Yet families who had lost loved ones and property during the trials were expected to go on with their lives as if nothing had happened. Their attempts to regain social standing and receive financial compensation through formal legal channels took several years.
Evaluator and you will accusers inform you minimal shame
Ultimately a number of evaluator hinted in the apologies for their spots when you look at the the fresh new examples, nevertheless they failed to assume one real guilt. Including, Massachusetts governor William Phipps conveniently blamed their lieutenant governor, William Stoughton, who’d offered just like the a judge (select Section cuatro). Continue reading “As an alternative it place brand new blame into the “trickery from Satan,” thus releasing on their own regarding any feeling of shame”