The Haunting Of The Salem Witch Trials

so terrified right now you're not even a little bit scared right now no was that noise hello [ __ ] with that boom it's me ticheba cool alright so this is the Jonathan Corwin house one of the most notorious witchcraft judges but it's more known in a touristy aspect as the witch house now as you can see the signs right there yeah they're really going for that it definitely has a creepy vibe to it it looks pretty cozy right you have a different standard of cozy I think the normal mutant great look on a wintry day like this that looks very welcoming it's a black house snow hitting it to me it's more eerie but you know I see things a little different than you know what does this go in you're going in first yeah why not great this weekend bus get in solved weeks for the city of Salem home of the Salem witch trials as part of our ongoing investigation into the question are ghosts real right now we're about to head out to some of the key locations that played a big part in one of the darkest blemishes in American history and later I may even present some theories as to why the witch trials may have happened what sounds about right it's going to be a lot of fun yeah oh absolutely this could be a black death hangings this has it all yeah alright let's get into it in 1641 the Puritan legal code was created and established a hierarchy of crimes starting with the worst the list goes idolatry witchcraft blasphemy murder poisoning and bestiality these people no sir - blasphemy you can kill a man but if you're like God stinks Jesus Christ blow his head off yeah how many people were poisoning each other I don't know how many people were [ __ ] donkeys back then everyone's always like how could they have done all this how could they have gone so crazy and killed so many innocent people well here's why because they're all insane let's jump forward to January 1692 when 9 year old Elizabeth Parris and 11 year old Abigail Williams began exhibiting strange behavior Elizabeth and Abigail were the daughter and niece of Reverend Samuel Parris respectively Reverend Parris with Salem villages first ordained minister the two girls behavior included making odd sounds and screaming contorting their bodies and throwing objects Elizabeth and Abigail reported that an invisible being was biting him pinching them eleven-year-old and Putnam and other girls in Salem began acting similarly shortly after this may come up in the theories but is it possible that these girls were very bored they were lost in the sauce that could be the footnote of the whole Salem witch trial a lot lost in the sauce in the sauce their behavior was attributed to supernatural causes according to a doctor's diagnosis though it's worth noting that there was only one doctor in Salem Village and he could most likely read but not write oh that's not good that's that doctors need to write yeah I mean how is he writing prescription he's not he's just pointing at things and saying yep that's a witch On February 9 1692 the girls accused three women for causing their bizarre outbursts after Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne both magistrates pressured the girls into naming the people afflicting them and as mentioned before judge Jonathan Corwin's house is one of the places were visiting today [Music] so this is the actual interior of the house back in the day this is the parlor is apparently where he would discuss accusations in front of a big cozy fireplace are you feeling right now Shane is this not cool to you to be in a place I love history's yeah this is just history brought to life yeah shall we explore more of this house yeah rickety stairs so right now we are in the master bedroom this is where Jonathan and his wife Elizabeth would have slept if he could sleep at night he slept like a baby to be honest I can't in his mind he was doing the right thing doing the Lord's work he was doing the Lord's work exactly I know you're not big on energy by milla you kind of feel that they're nervous right now I don't feel amazing let's just say that right I mean justjust considering all the things that happened you don't feel like a little strange that like one of the most notorious figures in the Salem witch trials slept right there that's neat it's like being in Lincoln's bedroom you use compared Jonathan Corwin Lou to Abraham Lincoln they both lived a long time ago that's literally the only two things I have in common returning to the three accused women two of them named Sarah Goode and Sarah Osborne both professed their innocence and would eventually die as a result of the trials however the other accused was a woman named Tituba the slave of Reverend Parris strangely unlike the other two accused woman Tituba actually admitted to afflicting the girls saying quote the devil came to me and bid me serve him end quote so right now we're looking for the foundations of the former House of Reverend Parris his family and his slave Tituba so this is sort of where this was a hunt mud this is where it all began according to a plaque that we found on site it was in this house in 1692 that Tituba Reverend Parris his slave allegedly told the girls household stories of witchcraft this is it and we could actually go inside the house let's go in something else after you sir holy [ __ ] dude Ryan I'm going in you have throw someone practicing witchcraft in this house you would know yeah I wonder if that was another part of it I'm this may have been only a part of the house they salvaged they had to dig it up and this may just be on just a rough outline of the foundation actually let me just take a rough EMF reading right after I mentioned taking an EMF reading our audio recorder picks up a voice possibly saying take it actually let me just take a Rafi is this the voice of Reverend Parris do believe this stuff this is uh apparently some people think that goes communicate electromagnetic fields I don't know how much I buy into it but I'm not going to say this is definitively a thing right now it's doing normal readings apparently if it goes over to milligauss then we're in some paranormal area but right now looks like it's zero so you can see either zero point one zero it's worth mentioning that there are some who believe Tituba was forced to confess and thereby fabricated her testimony regardless tituba's testimony is the longest in the entire Salem witch trials she also detailed visions of eerie animals including red cats yellow birds and black dogs perhaps most importantly Tituba added that other witches were also working to harm the Puritans in Salem with this startling confession the trials and accusations vaulted Ford giving them a purpose and mission ticheba was also very accommodating to the judges and claimed to go blind at one moment a sign that the devil was punishing her for speaking so candidly about him this showed she was at least trying to fight him after spending a year and three months in jail p'chepo was not indicted and was the very last of the accused to be released right now referring to the woman named Tituba we know you were admitted to some things that you may not have actually done there's good evidence to show that you didn't actually do those things you're forced to do you have anything to say about that do you think you've been getting physically harmed out here is that part of it I don't know her owners were evil pieces of [ __ ] ooh but they lived here - Ryan I know they're probably here and they heard you I don't like you that monkey I'm making it worse ah let's find some ghosts Chuba or the Reverend Parris or any of his family we are here to communicate with you if ghosts are real then call our bluff they want to know they're a ghost oh no no no right after I suggest the dead are unaware they are ghosts our audio recorder picks up this voice oh no no no no I don't think they do so that's a ghost saying what and just this particular ghost happens to have a cartoon voice so if someone just said a little bit like Little John what what he's upset he's upset at the notion that he's a ghost if I were to tell you right now you're dead I would happily would say what skipping board the infamous special court of oyer and terminer was established by Governor William Phips on May 27th 1692 eight girls from Salem were afflicted with witchcraft and making accusations in the court someone would warn that a witch was about to manipulate a victim and then the victim would begin to act strangely in the first trial of this court Bridget bishop an older woman of the community that many considered to be an immoral gossip was determined guilty of witchcraft and later became the first person executed in the Salem witch trials between the months of July and September 1692 18 more people were found guilty and executed including 4 men a rare occurrence in witch trials of the past one of the accused men was a man named George Burroughs a harvard-educated minister who was accused by other alleged witches from Andover of being their mastermind the claims made in court against Burroughs ranged from bizarre to batshit the accusers claimed that he was biting them during their testimony their bite marks allegedly matched up with Burroughs teeth I guess it had to pre bite themselves yeah it's not that hard they probably just bit themselves and then showed it and they were like yep it looks like teeth hang up yeah that's true don't hang them but it is peculiar they didn't have like a dentist on hand the doctors in town can't even write many people in the court not just the accusers claim to see spirits in the room one girl claimed the spirits were faces of Burroughs deceased wives colored as red as blood and thirsting for justice to be served to their husband finally the possibility that Burroughs had used an invisibility cloak given to him by the devil was suggested by the Chief Justice Oh My Jesus Christ this is so upsetting it's it's upsetting but it's kind of funny when you think about it oh my god if you're an educated man from Harvard who is like well surely the Chief Justice will have something reasonable to say about this chief justice what have you to say I've seen him use an invisibility cloak I know he gave it to him the devil before being executed Burroughs made an emotional speech where he recited the Lord's Prayer without any mistakes witches were not supposed to be able to do that which sowed the seeds of doubt in the crowd gathered apparently this whole site was also the home of George burrows if you're here make yourselves new I'm going to turn out the light or just like wiggle some snow around huh what happened all right I guess it's my turn yeah good luck I'm gonna scan around there's anybody in here right now with me show me a sign maybe move something say something to me I'm gonna turn off my light now and I'm just gonna let you guys speak don't push me though all right here we go all right I'm gonna get out of here really quick but since I'm leaving I'm gonna let you know how I kind of feel about you as I announced that I'm leaving we pick up another voice possibly saying I'm not but since I'm leaving no no I think it's just people but like it's breathing or it's wind I honestly think if you want a voice find a voice don't give us garbage that's clearly a voice it's not a voice okay I found it to be compelling that I'm it's responding intelligently to things that I'm saying also I mean I what did you hear that those my shoes rubbing together yeah I know what that is always a girl able to disturb with shoes and voices sound like right I think I am I don't think that I am on October 3rd 1692 increase Mather implored the court not to consider spectral evidence in the trials around the same time Governor Phips wife was brought in for interrogation if you recall Governor Phips was the man who created the infamous Court of warrior and terminer after Mather statement and phipps wife being interrogated dibbs released some of the people jailed for witchcraft halted all further arrests and replaced the court of warrior and terminer with the Superior Court of Judicature which was not permitted to consider testimonies of spectral evidence overall twenty people were executed in the Salem witch trials 14 of the 20 were women and only six were men though official numbers vary it's possible that a further 13 people perished while in jail on charges of witchcraft oddly all of the accusers were women between nine and 20 years old an unusual fact due to the fact that most witch trials saw men doing the majority of the accusations I just want to say when an entire community is basing their decisions around the decisions of eight little girls don't listen to children when the hell in history would that ever happen again were a bunch of high school kids go hey I think we should burn that building down I don't like it it's an evil building everyone goes yeah most importantly none of the executed ever admitted to witchcraft one interesting thing to note is that almost all of the people that were executed were not given a proper burial and instead were buried in unmarked graves somewhere in the area where those graves lie nobody knows some believe they may be buried somewhere on gallows Hill but regardless according to spellbound tours a Salem tour company gallows Hill has the reputation of being extremely haunted so this is gallows Hill I've actually always thought it would it's it's spooky er to imagine seeing a ghost in the middle of the day yeah I would agree with that spooky to see a ghost regardless alright this seems like a good spot we're near the top of the hill is there anybody up here besides birds that wants to talk to me and my stupid friend I don't think this is gonna work I think we'd have to go to an alternative method okay it occurred to me the reason why ghosts may not talk to me at you is because you're donning a stupid jean jacket and I'm in this peak coat but if I was in period specific clothing maybe they'll actually be friendlier to us all right well I feel good no pockets on this I don't know what to do with my hands you don't look too happy come on ghosts act more natural be Chia Puritan this is so dumb there's anybody who wants to come talk to us now is the time I heard what happened here I'm sorry to hear that your ghosts what engaging in a nice soft conversation you were weird or you're gonna break the news to them a little better than you even though they're dead that's why we're dressed up like this we're tricking them we're gonna live just like you let's go down to the pub cabbie the worst so not a not a smashing success no this wasn't what this didn't work out as well I thought it would I really thought it was gonna work we could have we could have researched a little better nobody knows why the witch trials occurred but there are theories so let's quickly go over a view the first theory comes from Harvard PhD student Emily Auster who points to an economic explanation in the Journal of economic perspectives Emily Auster suggests that the Little Ice Age that lasted between 1550 and 1800 and intensified between 1680 and 1730 caused economic problems that encouraged the population to believe one another for their hardship basically this theory is they just got bored or made they needed an outlet yeah this is what happens when people are passive-aggressive this is what happens when people don't have hobbies yeah I think I think that everyone needs a hobby and you don't have one that's probably gonna start didn't have anything else to do as I'm saying they could have played fingers they could play dice soccer or something the second berry comes from Linda Kappa rail that the afflicted girls could have been exposed to a kind of fungus called ergot which can be found in grains like rye which caused convulsive Birgit ism convulsive organism effects include hallucinations which are apparently similar to that of LSD muscle contractions that resemble seizure vertigo and crawling and tingling sensations in addition to RIE being commonly grown in the colony the moisture in the air and the grains lengthy storage time could have increased the likelihood of a good infestation however the girl showed no other visible signs of this illness which include disintegrating fingertips I don't buy that one I mean like its I think it's nice that someone maybe did their homework and maybe could provide a medical solution to this other than oh people are crazy sometimes yeah I think it's a little bit more fun to believe that humans are capable of some truly horrific things the third theory is that mass hysteria played a part in the witch trials it's accepted in most literature written about the Salem witch trials that some level of hysteria was at work in Salem during this time the word hysteria is used throughout most descriptions of the Salem witch trials this is like those people in France Oh God you and the [ __ ] people in France it's a real thing that happened all those people danced till they died loosely it's kind of loosely true not loose do you need to look up the body count on that oh look you know those people [ __ ] danced until they died that's true well if we're gonna go out that's a good way to go out yeah that's true the fourth theory comes from one of the people in the community at the time of the trials a Salem merchant named Robert Califf accused Reverend Parris of exploiting the trials for socio-political gain in the community he proposed that Reverend Parris forced his slave Tituba to admit to witchcraft so he could use the resulting paranoia to seize back his diminishing power in Salem Village I love this theory that's pretty strong it's a strong one and it came from someone in the community at that time yeah I wonder if he got shot after he said that I don't know I haven't heard about him since so he probably died to wrap up theories and I hesitate to even list it as a theory but I imagine considering the fact that people at the time believed it and because there's been so many movies about it there are some out there that actually entertain the idea that Salem witches for a real thing and I would like to express my own opinion on this notion no [ __ ] way great thank you thank you for one wait did you actually entertain the idea that I may believe in witchcraft it's really not that outlandish to think that you would believe that in the end nobody knows for sure what caused the Salem witch trials but what is known for certain are unjust fates of the victims in 1957 the state of Massachusetts apologize for the Salem witch trials in 1992 300 years after the trials the witch trials Memorial in Salem was dedicated by Nobel laureate author and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel all right so right now we're at the witch trial memorials every one of these benches has a name on it someone who is either executed or died in jail there's a trial as you can see it's quite a bit obviously these are here because they don't know where the bodies are for most of them so oh that's why the benches are here let's see we could clear a couple yeah just Mary Parker hang September 22nd it's a lot of people this is pretty crazy you know when you're standing in here and like in this little empty courtyard you just see all the benches it really is spooky but also like beautiful in a way this is eerie yeah and I don't know if I feel uncomfortable just because of the avalanche of history that's happening and converging in this spot or if it's because there's something here but either way I'd like to leave yeah okay after all these years the questions remain are there spirits left behind from Salem's troubled history why did these trials even happen both questions may forever remain unsolved all I'm saying if there's a town full of people who are all like you this is what happens I feel like they were if they were people start dying if there is a town of people who all thought like I did back in the day I don't think anything would get done because they'd hear a lot of the helming in the woods and they'd just be like oh [ __ ] and they just run let's see it all eventually died by themselves it start killing each other if there were a town full of me in the Puritan times we'd have landed on the moon and 17 I don't think so absolutely I think you'd all just sit around and talk about [ __ ] all day just sit in the town circle and you know we talk about stroke each other about mathematical equations exact math but yeah if you go [Music]

Channel: BuzzFeed Unsolved Network

Views: 12,821,548

Rating: 4.9385452 out of 5

Keywords: BuzzFeed, Buzzfeed unsolved, HALLSC, SffZ, buzzfeed blue, case, cold case, corwin, creepy, demon, detective, devil, gallows hill, ghost, haunted, investigate, investigation, investigative, jonathan corwin, magic, possession, salem, salem village, salem witch trials, salem witch trials memorial, scary, spooky, strange, tituba, unexplained, unsolved, unsolved mystery, unsolved supernatural season 2, weird, witchcraft, witches

Id: B_ZaFmX72EY

Length: 22min 12sec (1332 seconds)

Published: Fri May 26 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/yarcenahs]

I loved this class so much when I took it, Dr. Ross is a legend.

[u/madari256]

Haha, that was pretty awesome. Thanks!

[u/Thatpersonn]

Wheezzz