Thus, to confess at least bought a suspect time.īy contrast, those suspects who early on proclaimed their innocence, even as they were brought to the first trials in June, July, and August, refused to take that step of falsely confessing.
CONFESSIONS PART 1 2 TRIAL
A pattern must have been discerned that the confessors were at least being held temporarily without trial in order to name others or to rid the community of the more dangerous, recalcitrant suspects first. in mid-July, and then a great many more from Andover. Meanwhile, Tituba had confessed back in March 1692, followed by Abigail Hobbs in mid-April, Deliverance Hobbs a couple days later, Margaret Jacobs in May, Ann Foster and her daughter Mary Lacey Sr. But all those trials and convictions occurred late in the witch hunt (mid-September 1692 and then January 1693). Indeed, six confessors were convicted by the first witchcraft court and three later on by the second court. She’s technically correct: Confession was the best of all evidence of witchcraft, and those who confessed would have had no assurance that they would not ultimately be hanged for the crime. I can’t agree with Margo Burns on this point. So noble! It’s a nice story, but it is not based on historical facts. They had a way to save themselves but they refused to tell a lie even though it would save them from hanging. The belief that a confession, even a false one, could spare one from being hanged in 1692 makes it easier to then cast those who were executed as martyrs. The Chief Magistrate wrote a warrant for the execution for several confessors in January, but they and the rest of the people sentenced to die then were all spared by the Governor.Ĭonfession was the gold standard of convictive evidence in witchcraft cases in that era, mentioned in all the contemporary books about witchcraft, and it was not controversial legally the way spectral evidence was. Just because no confessors were hanged does not mean it was the intention of the Court to spare confessors-that’s a historian’s fallacy. Something that I can’t get through to people, both those who adhere to the traditional understanding as well as academic explanations, is that the notion that confession somehow spared people is simply not accurate. We’re all involved in its meaning simply as people, as evidenced again and again by events like the 400th anniversary of Rebecca Nurse’s birthday.” Margo Burns responds to original post: As Tony put it, “The Salem witch hunt is one of those subjects that simply crosses the boundaries between what interests academics and what interests the general public. Since readers often skip the Comments section, I wanted to share this important conversation about the meaning of the Salem confessions.
After publishing “ Traditional Understanding Overshadows Academic Explanations at Rebecca Nurse Commemoration” by Tony Fels, a fascinating discussion ensued in the Comments section between Tony Fels and Margo Burns.