Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials by Marc Aronson

Some may think that the Salem Witch Trials are just a thing of the past, consisting a bunch of lies made up by young and silly girls, and have nothing to do with today. But is this really true? What really did happen in Salem?

Salem was supposed to be a great town in this new world. It derives from the Hebrew word "shalom," which means "peace." However, in 1692, the opposite occurred. Everything started with the Goodwin children a few years prior, and since then, mayhem was prevalent in everyday life. There had been a group of young girls and teenagers who learned that a few little lies go a long way. They began making accusations against the townspeople, accusing them of witches. These girls told haunting stories of spectors attacking them and puppets, or voodoo dolls, that allowed witches to attack from afar. They began telling tales of seeing residents of Salem making pacts with the Devil himself. Each story ended the same-these girls saw townspeople signing the Devil's book with their own blood, there by giving up their soul.

Many people have read/seen the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, which is a heartbreaking story of the Salem Witch Trials. But how much of this is true? For example, this story by Mark Aronson sheds some light on Tituba, the slave woman from Barbados. Miller writes that this black woman had preformed Barbados magic with the young girls, including Abigail Williams, Betty Paris, and Ann Putnam Jr. However, history later tells us that Tituba was not balck; she was an Indian. Also, any magic that Tituba may have learned came from the English, not from Barbados. At the time that Miller wrote his play, there was not that much uncovered about the Salem Witch Trials. So, could there be other new details that history has uncovered? What actually did happen in Salem in 1692? Read to find out(;