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In the play, "The Crucible", written by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams is a seventeen year old girl, who is in love with, and had an affair with, John Proctor. One night, she and her friends are caught dancing around a fire in the woods, and Abby supposedly drank a potion, containing blood, to kill Elizabeth Proctor, John's wife. To cover up their unseemly acts, the girls claim to be afflicted and accuse many of the women, as well as some men, in Salem of witchcraft. However, in real life, Abigail Williams was only eleven during the events of the witch trials. The suspicion of witchcraft arose when Abigail and her cousin, Betty Parris, began having fits that the doctor could not explain (Brooks "Abigail Williams: The Mysterious Afflicted Girl"). Also, there is no evidence that suggests that Abigail Williams and John Proctor even knew each other before the witch trials. It is highly unlikely they had an affair, based on the fact that Proctor was sixty, at the time (Brooks "Abigail Williams: The Mysterious Afflicted Girl"). However, the girls did accuse Proctor of witchcraft, likely due to his public pronouncements that the girls were all liars and should be whipped (Brooks "Abigail Williams: The Mysterious Afflicted Girl"). After the trials, Abigail Williams ran away from home. No one knows exactly what happened to her after that, but the popular belief is that she resorted to prostitution to survive ("The Afflicted of Salem, Massachusetts"). One source claims that Abigail died in 1697, before she reached the age of seventeen ("The Afflicted of Salem, Massachusetts").
In "The Crucible", John Proctor is a devout man in his thirties. He cares deeply for his wife and kids. He also does not care for Reverend Parris. However, he and his wife have been on rocky ground ever since John had an affair with Abigail Williams. In real life, John Proctor was born in Assington, England on October 9th, 1631. He moved to America with his parents between 1633 and 1635 (Brooks "John Proctor: First Male Accused Witch"). "In 1651, John Proctor married his first wife, Martha. After Martha passed away in 1659, Proctor then married Elizabeth Thorndike in 1662 (Brooks "John Proctor: First Male Accused Witch")." Four years later, John and Elizabeth Proctor moved to Salem from Ipswich, Massachusetts. In Salem, Proctor became a farmer, and he even inherited land after his father's death (Brooks "John Proctor: First Male Accused Witch"). Unfortunately, Elizabeth died in 1672, so, after a mourning period of two years, John married Elizabeth Bassett. During the witch trials, when he was about sixty years old, John Proctor was very outspoken against the "afflicted" girls that were making so many accusations (Brooks "John Proctor: First Male Accused Witch"). He claimed that the girls were liars and frauds. Even John Proctor's servant, Mary Proctor, began having fits and making accusations (Brooks "John Proctor: First Male Accused Witch"). Initially, John Proctor's third wife, Elizabeth, who was pregnant, was accused of witchcraft, but soon, the girls turned on John as well. John and Elizabeth Proctor were officially convicted of witchcraft on August 5th, 1692 (Brooks "John Proctor: First Male Accused Witch"). Elizabeth's hanging was to be delayed until she gave birth, but John was hanged on August 19, 1692.
In The Crucible, as well as in real life, Elizabeth is married to John Proctor during the witch trials. Like John, she is convicted of witchcraft, but due to her pregnancy, her execution was delayed. The play does not give an account of what occurred after John Proctor's execution, but it is known that on January 27th, 1693, Elizabeth gives birth to a baby boy, John Proctor III (Brooks "Elizabeth Proctor: The Salem Witch Trials Widow"). Elizabeth was able to survive the trials, for she was not executed by the time Governor Phipps exonerated all of those who were convicted. Unfortunately, John Proctor did not include Elizabeth in his will, likely because he believed she would be executed (Brooks "Elizabeth Proctor: The Salem Witch Trials Widow"). Elizabeth was left dirt broke and homeless, due to the fact that the court had confiscated the Proctors' estate. Sometime between 1694 and 1695, the court restored the Proctor's estate to his descendants, as well as Elizabeth (Brooks "Elizabeth Proctor: The Salem Witch Trials Widow"). On September 22, 1699, Elizabeth married her second husband, Daniel Richards.
In "The Crucible", Giles Corey, was a farmer who had some thorough knowledge in law. He was arrested for contempt of the court, and was crushed to death by rocks while being questioned. He refused to say the name of the person who heard Putnam say he had told his daughter to falsely accuse Jacobs of witchcraft so he could buy his land. During pressing, Corey would only answer questions with "More weight." In reality, Giles Corey was born in Northhampton, England in 1621. He moved to Salem after marrying his first wife, Margaret (Brooks "The Curse of Giles Corey"). Margaret died sometime around 1659, and Giles married Mary Brite on April 11, 1664. In 1676, Giles Corey beat one of his farmhands to death with a stick (Brooks "The Curse of Giles Corey"). Corey was required to pay a fine, after John Proctor testified against him. Mary died in 1684, so Corey married Martha Panon in 1690 (Brooks "The Curse of Giles Corey"). When Martha Corey was arrested for witchcraft on March 21, 1692, Giles was so absorbed by the paranoia of Salem that he testified against his own wife. On April 18, 1692, Giles was also accused of witchcraft (Brooks "The Curse of Giles Corey"). At this point, Corey became more doubtful of the trials' validity, and took advantage of a legal tactic known as "standing mute", which meant he refused to enter a plea. Giles died as he did in the play, crushed to death by stones during questioning (Brooks "The Curse of Giles Corey").
In "The Crucible", Martha Corey is married to Giles Corey. Rumors start spreading about her when Giles absentmindedly mentions that she had been reading strange books. Martha refused to confess to the crime of witchcraft, and was hanged with John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse. In real life, Martha started out on the wrong track when she gave birth to a bastard child of mixed descent in 1677 (Brooks "Martha Corey: Gospel Woman or Gospel Witch?"). Benjamin, the child, was raised by his father, because Martha married Henry Rich in 1684. Within this marriage, Martha had another son, Thomas Rich (Brooks"Martha Corey: Gospel Woman or Gospel Witch?"). Martha became a widow sometime between 1684 and 1690. She then married Giles Corey on April 27, 1690 (Brooks "Martha Corey: Gospel Woman or Gospel Witch?"). During the trials, Martha did not believe in the validity of the court, so she tried to persuade Giles not to attend examinations. This made her look suspicious, and she was arrested for witchcraft on March 19, 1692, based on the accusations of Ann Putnam, the younger (Brooks "Martha Corey: Gospel Woman or Gospel Witch?"). During Martha's trial, the afflicted girls claimed they saw yellow birds flying around her head and a man whispering in her ear. "Martha Corey was found guilty on September 8th, 1692 and sentenced to death (Brooks "Martha Corey: Gospel Woman or Gospel Witch?")." Martha Corey was hanged on September 22, 1692 (Brooks "Martha Corey: Gospel Woman or Gospel Witch?").
In "The Crucible", Reverend Samuel Parris is the minister in Salem, at the time of the trials. He is disliked by many of the citizens of Salem, due to his greed. He gets swept up in the hysteria of the trials, and supports his niece's accusations. This changes, however, when threats are made against him, and he suggests that the court postpone executions. He also has the poor fortune of being robbed by his own niece, leaving him penniless. In reality, Samuel Parris was born in London, England in 1653 (Brooks "Reverend Samuel Parris: Was He To Blame?"). The Parris family moves to a plantation in Barbados, while Samuel is still young. "In 1673, Samuel Parris was attending Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts when his father died (Brooks "Reverend Samuel Parris: Was He To Blame?")." Samuel Parris then abandoned his education to manage the family sugar plantation. However, the business was unsuccessful, so Parris moved to Boston in 1680 (Brooks "Reverend Samuel Parris: Was He To Blame?"). He brought his slaves, Tituba and John Indian with him. Soon after the move, Samuel Parris married Elizabeth Elridge (Brooks "Reverend Samuel Parris: Was He To Blame?"). Together, the three of them had three children, including Thomas, Betty, and Susannah. In July of 1689, Parris accepted the position of minister in the town of Salem (Brooks "Reverend Samuel Parris: Was He To Blame?"). After Parris' niece and daughter began throwing fits, he called a doctor, but the doctor could not determine the cause of the fits. This event was most responsible for initiating the hysteria that led to the witch trials. Parris even mentioned in his sermons that there were witches in Salem (Brooks "Reverend Samuel Parris: Was He To Blame?"). In order to protect her, Parris sent Betty to live with his cousin, Stephen Sewall. Throughout the duration of the witch trials, Parris testified against nine people, including his slave, Tituba (Brooks "Reverend Samuel Parris: Was He To Blame?"). After the trials, there was so much discontent with Parris that many of Salem's citizens signed a petition to have him moved to a different church. However, church leaders wanted him to remain in his current position, and instead paid him only partial salary for the span of three years (Brooks "Reverend Samuel Parris: Was He To Blame?"). During this period, on July 14, 1696, Samuel Parris' wife died. Parris was eventually dismissed from Salem in 1705, and proceeded to move from city to city, until he died in Sudbury on February 27, 1720 (Brooks "Reverend Samuel Parris: Was He To Blame?").
In "The Crucible", as well as in real life, Betty was the first afflicted girl in Salem. However, in the play, she was merely putting on an act so that she would not get in trouble for participating in dancing in the woods. In real life, Betty, as well as several other girls, participated in a fortune-telling technique that would reveal her husband's occupation (Brooks "Betty Parris: The First Afflicted Girl"). Not long after, Betty began throwing fits, closely followed by her cousin, Abigail. A doctor was summoned to examine the girls, but he was unable to determine any cause. Betty live with Stephen Sewall for much of the duration of the trials (Brooks "Betty Parris: The First Afflicted Girl"). Betty never testified against any of the accused. After Samuel Parris was dismissed from his job as minister, Betty continued to move from city to city with him until she reached adulthood (Brooks "Betty Parris: The First Afflicted Girl"). In 1710, she married Benjamin Baron, a shoemaker. Together, the two of them had four children (Brooks "Betty Parris: The First Afflicted Girl"). Betty died on March 21, 1760, in her home in Sudbury, Massachusetts.
In "The Crucible", Rebecca Nurse is the paradigm of a Puritan woman. She is envied by Ann Putnam, the elder, due to the fact that Rebecca is able to have an abundance of children, while Ann has birthed several stillborns. Rebecca never confesses to the crime of witchcraft, and is eventually hanged. In reality, Rebecca is born in Yarmouth, England in 1621 (Brooks "The Trial of Rebecca Nurse"). Sometime between the years of 1638 and 1640, Rebecca's family moves to Massachusetts. Rebecca marries Francis Nurse in 1640, and they purchased a farm in Salem (Brooks "The Trial of Rebecca Nurse"). Together, the two of them have eight children. Rebecca Nurse is arrested for witchcraft, based on the accusations of the Putnams and Abigail Williams, on March 24, 1692, shocking the entirety of Salem (Brooks "The Trial of Rebecca Nurse"). Everyone knew Rebecca to be a devout and charitable woman. Nurse was ruled "not guilty" by the jury (Brooks "The Trial of Rebecca Nurse"). A petition was even signed by thirty nine people in her favor. However, shortly after, the jury changed their conviction, and Rebecca was found guilty of witchcraft (Brooks "The Trial of Rebecca Nurse"). On July 19, 1692, Rebecca Nurse was hanged. Rebecca's husband, Francis, was never accused.
In "The Crucible", Tituba is Parris' slave from Barbados. Ann Putnam, the elder, believes that Tituba practices voodoo, and asks her to contact her dead babies and find their murderer. Abigail accuses her of using witchcraft to harass her. Tituba confesses to witchcraft to avoid hanging. In real life, Tituba does confess to witchcraft, after Abigail accuses her and two other women (Brooks "Tituba: The Slave of Salem"). It is likely the accusations and arrests would have been limited to these three women if Tituba had not provided such a detailed account of her experiences with the Devil and his followers. Tituba served time in jail until April of 1693, when she was purchased by a new master for the price of her bail, the equivalency of seven pounds (Brooks "Tituba: The Slave of Salem"). Her husband, John Indian, was also purchased by this new owner.
In "The Crucible", Thomas Putnam is the wealthiest man in Salem. He influences his daughter to accuse and testify against numerous people, so that he can purchase their land when they are convicted. His wife, Ann Putnam, is a paranoid and envious woman, who has given birth to several stillborns. When her sole surviving child, Ruth, falls ill, she pleads with Tituba to use her voodoo to contact her dead babies and ask who murdered them. In reality, Thomas Putnam was born into a wealthy family on January 12, 1652 in Salem (Brooks "Thomas Putnam: Ringleader of The Salem Witch Hunt?"). In 1678, he married Ann Carr, who also came from a wealthy family. Together, they had ten children (Brooks "Thomas Putnam: Ringleader of The Salem Witch Hunt?"). Their eldest child, Ann Jr., was one of the "afflicted" girls during the witch trials. In January of 1692, Ann Jr. began displaying symptoms, such as barking, seizures, and screaming about being pinched by invisible figures (Brooks "Thomas Putnam: Ringleader of The Salem Witch Hunt?"). A doctor declared Ann bewitched, and the accusations began. Throughout the trials, Thomas Putnam accused and testified against forty three individuals, while Ann Jr. accused and testified against sixty two individuals (Brooks "Thomas Putnam: Ringleader of The Salem Witch Hunt?"). One particular case that both Ann Putnam Sr. and Ann Putnam Jr. testified in was the trial of Rebecca Nurse (Brooks "Ann Putnam Jr: Villain or Victim?") Thomas Putnam even went so far as to write a letter to the court judges, Corwin and Hathorne, thanking them for their work and offering his assistance in anyway possible. Thomas Putnam died on March 24, 1699 (Brooks "Thomas Putnam: Ringleader of The Salem Witch Hunt?"). His wife, Ann Sr., died on June 8, 1699 (Brooks "Thomas Putnam: Ringleader of The Salem Witch Hunt?"). Ann Putnam Jr. was left to raise her nine younger siblings alone. She never married, and in 1706, she publicly apologized for her participation in the trials (Brooks "Thomas Putnam: Ringleader of The Salem Witch Hunt?"). Ann Putnam Jr. was the only afflicted girl to apologize, and in 1716, she died (Brooks "Ann Putnam Jr: Villain or Victim?"). She was only thirty seven years old.
In the play, "The Crucible", written by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams is a seventeen year old girl, who is in love with, and had an affair with, John Proctor. One night, she and her friends are caught dancing around a fire in the woods, and Abby supposedly drank a potion, containing blood, to kill Elizabeth Proctor, John's wife. To cover up their unseemly acts, the girls claim to be afflicted and accuse many of the women, as well as some men, in Salem of witchcraft. However, in real life, Abigail Williams was only eleven during the events of the witch trials. The suspicion of witchcraft arose when Abigail and her cousin, Betty Parris, began having fits that the doctor could not explain (Brooks "Abigail Williams: The Mysterious Afflicted Girl"). Also, there is no evidence that suggests that Abigail Williams and John Proctor even knew each other before the witch trials. It is highly unlikely they had an affair, based on the fact that Proctor was sixty, at the time (Brooks "Abigail Williams: The Mysterious Afflicted Girl"). However, the girls did accuse Proctor of witchcraft, likely due to his public pronouncements that the girls were all liars and should be whipped (Brooks "Abigail Williams: The Mysterious Afflicted Girl"). After the trials, Abigail Williams ran away from home. No one knows exactly what happened to her after that, but the popular belief is that she resorted to prostitution to survive ("The Afflicted of Salem, Massachusetts"). One source claims that Abigail died in 1697, before she reached the age of seventeen ("The Afflicted of Salem, Massachusetts").
In "The Crucible", John Proctor is a devout man in his thirties. He cares deeply for his wife and kids. He also does not care for Reverend Parris. However, he and his wife have been on rocky ground ever since John had an affair with Abigail Williams. In real life, John Proctor was born in Assington, England on October 9th, 1631. He moved to America with his parents between 1633 and 1635 (Brooks "John Proctor: First Male Accused Witch"). "In 1651, John Proctor married his first wife, Martha. After Martha passed away in 1659, Proctor then married Elizabeth Thorndike in 1662 (Brooks "John Proctor: First Male Accused Witch")." Four years later, John and Elizabeth Proctor moved to Salem from Ipswich, Massachusetts. In Salem, Proctor became a farmer, and he even inherited land after his father's death (Brooks "John Proctor: First Male Accused Witch"). Unfortunately, Elizabeth died in 1672, so, after a mourning period of two years, John married Elizabeth Bassett. During the witch trials, when he was about sixty years old, John Proctor was very outspoken against the "afflicted" girls that were making so many accusations (Brooks "John Proctor: First Male Accused Witch"). He claimed that the girls were liars and frauds. Even John Proctor's servant, Mary Proctor, began having fits and making accusations (Brooks "John Proctor: First Male Accused Witch"). Initially, John Proctor's third wife, Elizabeth, who was pregnant, was accused of witchcraft, but soon, the girls turned on John as well. John and Elizabeth Proctor were officially convicted of witchcraft on August 5th, 1692 (Brooks "John Proctor: First Male Accused Witch"). Elizabeth's hanging was to be delayed until she gave birth, but John was hanged on August 19, 1692.
In The Crucible, as well as in real life, Elizabeth is married to John Proctor during the witch trials. Like John, she is convicted of witchcraft, but due to her pregnancy, her execution was delayed. The play does not give an account of what occurred after John Proctor's execution, but it is known that on January 27th, 1693, Elizabeth gives birth to a baby boy, John Proctor III (Brooks "Elizabeth Proctor: The Salem Witch Trials Widow"). Elizabeth was able to survive the trials, for she was not executed by the time Governor Phipps exonerated all of those who were convicted. Unfortunately, John Proctor did not include Elizabeth in his will, likely because he believed she would be executed (Brooks "Elizabeth Proctor: The Salem Witch Trials Widow"). Elizabeth was left dirt broke and homeless, due to the fact that the court had confiscated the Proctors' estate. Sometime between 1694 and 1695, the court restored the Proctor's estate to his descendants, as well as Elizabeth (Brooks "Elizabeth Proctor: The Salem Witch Trials Widow"). On September 22, 1699, Elizabeth married her second husband, Daniel Richards.
In "The Crucible", Giles Corey, was a farmer who had some thorough knowledge in law. He was arrested for contempt of the court, and was crushed to death by rocks while being questioned. He refused to say the name of the person who heard Putnam say he had told his daughter to falsely accuse Jacobs of witchcraft so he could buy his land. During pressing, Corey would only answer questions with "More weight." In reality, Giles Corey was born in Northhampton, England in 1621. He moved to Salem after marrying his first wife, Margaret (Brooks "The Curse of Giles Corey"). Margaret died sometime around 1659, and Giles married Mary Brite on April 11, 1664. In 1676, Giles Corey beat one of his farmhands to death with a stick (Brooks "The Curse of Giles Corey"). Corey was required to pay a fine, after John Proctor testified against him. Mary died in 1684, so Corey married Martha Panon in 1690 (Brooks "The Curse of Giles Corey"). When Martha Corey was arrested for witchcraft on March 21, 1692, Giles was so absorbed by the paranoia of Salem that he testified against his own wife. On April 18, 1692, Giles was also accused of witchcraft (Brooks "The Curse of Giles Corey"). At this point, Corey became more doubtful of the trials' validity, and took advantage of a legal tactic known as "standing mute", which meant he refused to enter a plea. Giles died as he did in the play, crushed to death by stones during questioning (Brooks "The Curse of Giles Corey").
In "The Crucible", Martha Corey is married to Giles Corey. Rumors start spreading about her when Giles absentmindedly mentions that she had been reading strange books. Martha refused to confess to the crime of witchcraft, and was hanged with John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse. In real life, Martha started out on the wrong track when she gave birth to a bastard child of mixed descent in 1677 (Brooks "Martha Corey: Gospel Woman or Gospel Witch?"). Benjamin, the child, was raised by his father, because Martha married Henry Rich in 1684. Within this marriage, Martha had another son, Thomas Rich (Brooks"Martha Corey: Gospel Woman or Gospel Witch?"). Martha became a widow sometime between 1684 and 1690. She then married Giles Corey on April 27, 1690 (Brooks "Martha Corey: Gospel Woman or Gospel Witch?"). During the trials, Martha did not believe in the validity of the court, so she tried to persuade Giles not to attend examinations. This made her look suspicious, and she was arrested for witchcraft on March 19, 1692, based on the accusations of Ann Putnam, the younger (Brooks "Martha Corey: Gospel Woman or Gospel Witch?"). During Martha's trial, the afflicted girls claimed they saw yellow birds flying around her head and a man whispering in her ear. "Martha Corey was found guilty on September 8th, 1692 and sentenced to death (Brooks "Martha Corey: Gospel Woman or Gospel Witch?")." Martha Corey was hanged on September 22, 1692 (Brooks "Martha Corey: Gospel Woman or Gospel Witch?").
In "The Crucible", Reverend Samuel Parris is the minister in Salem, at the time of the trials. He is disliked by many of the citizens of Salem, due to his greed. He gets swept up in the hysteria of the trials, and supports his niece's accusations. This changes, however, when threats are made against him, and he suggests that the court postpone executions. He also has the poor fortune of being robbed by his own niece, leaving him penniless. In reality, Samuel Parris was born in London, England in 1653 (Brooks "Reverend Samuel Parris: Was He To Blame?"). The Parris family moves to a plantation in Barbados, while Samuel is still young. "In 1673, Samuel Parris was attending Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts when his father died (Brooks "Reverend Samuel Parris: Was He To Blame?")." Samuel Parris then abandoned his education to manage the family sugar plantation. However, the business was unsuccessful, so Parris moved to Boston in 1680 (Brooks "Reverend Samuel Parris: Was He To Blame?"). He brought his slaves, Tituba and John Indian with him. Soon after the move, Samuel Parris married Elizabeth Elridge (Brooks "Reverend Samuel Parris: Was He To Blame?"). Together, the three of them had three children, including Thomas, Betty, and Susannah. In July of 1689, Parris accepted the position of minister in the town of Salem (Brooks "Reverend Samuel Parris: Was He To Blame?"). After Parris' niece and daughter began throwing fits, he called a doctor, but the doctor could not determine the cause of the fits. This event was most responsible for initiating the hysteria that led to the witch trials. Parris even mentioned in his sermons that there were witches in Salem (Brooks "Reverend Samuel Parris: Was He To Blame?"). In order to protect her, Parris sent Betty to live with his cousin, Stephen Sewall. Throughout the duration of the witch trials, Parris testified against nine people, including his slave, Tituba (Brooks "Reverend Samuel Parris: Was He To Blame?"). After the trials, there was so much discontent with Parris that many of Salem's citizens signed a petition to have him moved to a different church. However, church leaders wanted him to remain in his current position, and instead paid him only partial salary for the span of three years (Brooks "Reverend Samuel Parris: Was He To Blame?"). During this period, on July 14, 1696, Samuel Parris' wife died. Parris was eventually dismissed from Salem in 1705, and proceeded to move from city to city, until he died in Sudbury on February 27, 1720 (Brooks "Reverend Samuel Parris: Was He To Blame?").
In "The Crucible", as well as in real life, Betty was the first afflicted girl in Salem. However, in the play, she was merely putting on an act so that she would not get in trouble for participating in dancing in the woods. In real life, Betty, as well as several other girls, participated in a fortune-telling technique that would reveal her husband's occupation (Brooks "Betty Parris: The First Afflicted Girl"). Not long after, Betty began throwing fits, closely followed by her cousin, Abigail. A doctor was summoned to examine the girls, but he was unable to determine any cause. Betty live with Stephen Sewall for much of the duration of the trials (Brooks "Betty Parris: The First Afflicted Girl"). Betty never testified against any of the accused. After Samuel Parris was dismissed from his job as minister, Betty continued to move from city to city with him until she reached adulthood (Brooks "Betty Parris: The First Afflicted Girl"). In 1710, she married Benjamin Baron, a shoemaker. Together, the two of them had four children (Brooks "Betty Parris: The First Afflicted Girl"). Betty died on March 21, 1760, in her home in Sudbury, Massachusetts.
In "The Crucible", Rebecca Nurse is the paradigm of a Puritan woman. She is envied by Ann Putnam, the elder, due to the fact that Rebecca is able to have an abundance of children, while Ann has birthed several stillborns. Rebecca never confesses to the crime of witchcraft, and is eventually hanged. In reality, Rebecca is born in Yarmouth, England in 1621 (Brooks "The Trial of Rebecca Nurse"). Sometime between the years of 1638 and 1640, Rebecca's family moves to Massachusetts. Rebecca marries Francis Nurse in 1640, and they purchased a farm in Salem (Brooks "The Trial of Rebecca Nurse"). Together, the two of them have eight children. Rebecca Nurse is arrested for witchcraft, based on the accusations of the Putnams and Abigail Williams, on March 24, 1692, shocking the entirety of Salem (Brooks "The Trial of Rebecca Nurse"). Everyone knew Rebecca to be a devout and charitable woman. Nurse was ruled "not guilty" by the jury (Brooks "The Trial of Rebecca Nurse"). A petition was even signed by thirty nine people in her favor. However, shortly after, the jury changed their conviction, and Rebecca was found guilty of witchcraft (Brooks "The Trial of Rebecca Nurse"). On July 19, 1692, Rebecca Nurse was hanged. Rebecca's husband, Francis, was never accused.
In "The Crucible", Tituba is Parris' slave from Barbados. Ann Putnam, the elder, believes that Tituba practices voodoo, and asks her to contact her dead babies and find their murderer. Abigail accuses her of using witchcraft to harass her. Tituba confesses to witchcraft to avoid hanging. In real life, Tituba does confess to witchcraft, after Abigail accuses her and two other women (Brooks "Tituba: The Slave of Salem"). It is likely the accusations and arrests would have been limited to these three women if Tituba had not provided such a detailed account of her experiences with the Devil and his followers. Tituba served time in jail until April of 1693, when she was purchased by a new master for the price of her bail, the equivalency of seven pounds (Brooks "Tituba: The Slave of Salem"). Her husband, John Indian, was also purchased by this new owner.
In "The Crucible", Thomas Putnam is the wealthiest man in Salem. He influences his daughter to accuse and testify against numerous people, so that he can purchase their land when they are convicted. His wife, Ann Putnam, is a paranoid and envious woman, who has given birth to several stillborns. When her sole surviving child, Ruth, falls ill, she pleads with Tituba to use her voodoo to contact her dead babies and ask who murdered them. In reality, Thomas Putnam was born into a wealthy family on January 12, 1652 in Salem (Brooks "Thomas Putnam: Ringleader of The Salem Witch Hunt?"). In 1678, he married Ann Carr, who also came from a wealthy family. Together, they had ten children (Brooks "Thomas Putnam: Ringleader of The Salem Witch Hunt?"). Their eldest child, Ann Jr., was one of the "afflicted" girls during the witch trials. In January of 1692, Ann Jr. began displaying symptoms, such as barking, seizures, and screaming about being pinched by invisible figures (Brooks "Thomas Putnam: Ringleader of The Salem Witch Hunt?"). A doctor declared Ann bewitched, and the accusations began. Throughout the trials, Thomas Putnam accused and testified against forty three individuals, while Ann Jr. accused and testified against sixty two individuals (Brooks "Thomas Putnam: Ringleader of The Salem Witch Hunt?"). One particular case that both Ann Putnam Sr. and Ann Putnam Jr. testified in was the trial of Rebecca Nurse (Brooks "Ann Putnam Jr: Villain or Victim?") Thomas Putnam even went so far as to write a letter to the court judges, Corwin and Hathorne, thanking them for their work and offering his assistance in anyway possible. Thomas Putnam died on March 24, 1699 (Brooks "Thomas Putnam: Ringleader of The Salem Witch Hunt?"). His wife, Ann Sr., died on June 8, 1699 (Brooks "Thomas Putnam: Ringleader of The Salem Witch Hunt?"). Ann Putnam Jr. was left to raise her nine younger siblings alone. She never married, and in 1706, she publicly apologized for her participation in the trials (Brooks "Thomas Putnam: Ringleader of The Salem Witch Hunt?"). Ann Putnam Jr. was the only afflicted girl to apologize, and in 1716, she died (Brooks "Ann Putnam Jr: Villain or Victim?"). She was only thirty seven years old.
The Devil come to me and bid me sign his book.