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Swimming

Prayer test

Touch test

Witch cakes

Pricking and scratching test

Incantation

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The infamous Salem witch trials began during the spring of 1692, after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft.

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In January 1697, the Massachusetts General Court declared a day of fasting for the tragedy of the Salem witch trials; the court later deemed the trials unlawful, and the leading justice Samuel Sewall publicly apologized for his role in the process.

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George Burroughs

Martha Carrier

Martha Corey

Mary Easty

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how was the practice of witchcraft viewed in 17th century New England?

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how was the practice of witchcraft viewed in 17th century New England?

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those who were accused of consorting with the devil were considered felons, having committed a crime against their government. The punishment for such a crime was hanging.

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Were a series of hearings before local magistrates followed by county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in a variety of towns across Massachusetts Bay Colony.

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The use of various types of magical or mystical powers applied on another person's mind, which is not necessarily associated with the evil or the infliction of harm, nor with diabolism.