All language subtitles for 5ca9404c59fe4f58821bc9c50abb0b6d_track3_eng

Narrator: In 1692,

the small puritan village of
salem, massachusetts,

was at the center of one of
history's deadliest witch hunts.

Picknett: It was just an utterly
tragic case of mass hysteria.

Gough: Nobody was safe.

Once you were accused,
it was a domino effect,

you would accuse someone else,
try to deflect the attention

from you
to some other poor soul.

It was absolute pandemonium.

Narrator: As a result
of the unjust execution

of 20 innocent men and women
during the salem witch trials,

some people believe
that salem remains cursed today.

Baltrusis:
Salem, without a doubt,

is the most haunted location
in the country.

The land is stained with blood.

Narrator: Yet despite its past,
salem now prides itself

on being the capital
of modern american witchcraft.

Masson: I call unto and invite
to this sacred space

the spirits of those who were
accused in 1692.

Felix: I mean, there's no doubt
a terrible wrong

was done on all of the accused.

They were all innocent
of everything.

It's haunted america
for the best part of 300 years.

♪

-- captions by vitac --
www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by
discovery communications

♪

♪

♪

♪

narrator: During the notorious
salem witch trials,

20 men and women accused
of witchcraft

were wrongfully executed.

Salem historian and paranormal
author sam baltrusis

is heading to the exact spot

where the deadly salem witch
hunt began in February 1692.

But wherever sam goes in salem,

he always finds it
a haunting experience.

Baltrusis: I love the history,
but every time I come to salem,

I'll have something
weird happen.

Soon as I stepped foot in salem,

things started happening
that were inexplicable.

I've had a man with a hat,
like a shadow figure,

stalk me at my job in salem.

And I really feel like that
maybe I'm cursed.

Narrator: Sam says he discovered
a possible reason

a few years ago when he found
out he's distantly related

to one of the key figures
in the salem witch trials,

ann putnam jr.

Ann putnam jr. Accused
62 people of of witchcraft,

and she was responsible
for the deaths of 17 people.

Those numbers are huge.

Ann putnam jr.
Was the major player,

but her father, thomas putnam,

was controlling
what was going on.

He was, in my opinion,
the puppet master.

Now that I know that I am
related to the putnam family,

my goal is to make amends

for what my family
did back in 1692.

I feel like that
maybe this curse

that's been kind of with me
since I've been in salem

will somehow somehow be lifted.

Narrator: Today, very few
original 17th century houses

survive in historic
salem village.

But the foundations
of the original parsonage

were the salem witch hunt
began have been preserved.

This is ground zero
to what happened in 1692.

And it's -- to me,
it's hallowed grounds.

Narrator: Living here in salem's
parsonage in 1692

were reverend samuel parris
and his wife,

their 9-year-old daughter betty,

and her 11-year-old cousin
abigail,

and the family slave tituba.

All right, in 1681,
the salem village inhabitants

built a home for their minister
at this site.

It was in this house in 1692
that stories of witchcraft

nurtured the village
witchcraft hysteria

and resulted in the deaths
of 23 persons.

Now, it's interesting that
they say 23 persons

is the fact that there were
20 people that were executed,

but there were also three people
that died in prison, as well.

But the impact of
the witch trials

reached hundreds of people.

Families were destroyed.

There were people
that were accused of witchcraft,

never the same again.

So 23 is a modest number

compared to the hundreds
of people

that were affected
by the witch trials.

Narrator:
The tragic trail of events

that soon snowballed
uncontrollably

into the deadly salem witch hunt

began when the children
of the reverend's house

started to act strangely
one day in February 1692.

When reverend parris' daughter
betty and her cousin abigail

began to kick off,
essentially,

you could say
they were hysterical,

but it was more than that.

They were barking.

They were contorting
their bodies in ways

that people
thought were impossible.

They were crawling like animals
under the furniture.

They were foaming at the mouth.

You know, obviously,
something was very, very wrong.

So they called in the doctor.

The doctor examines them
physically

and comes to the conclusion

that there is nothing
obviously physically amiss.

And so he makes
the dramatic proclamation

that they are bewitched.

Narrator: When the girls
were later questioned,

they said that the family slave,
tituba,

who is believed to have been an
indigenous south american woman,

had taught them various strange
and superstitious practices.

♪

gough: In this puritan world,

tituba's indigenous customs
are viewed as being demonic,

obviously of witchcraft
in origin.

But she was just different.

So she was targeted first
and accused of practices

that were obviously witchcraft,

which is normal
and indigenous to her culture

as a highly religious community.

Narrator: Puritans were
extremely afraid of witchcraft

and believe that the devil
was always trying to tempt

the god-fearing from the path
of righteousness.

You cannot underestimate
how conservative

and how strict the culture
was in this village

and all around new England.

Felix:
Dancing was not allowed.

Fun was not allowed.

Not a lot of sex was allowed.
Christmas was banned.

Gough: If you varied from
the norm one little bit,

then people would start
to think that you're different,

but not a good
kind of different --

a bad kind of different,
the work of the devil.

Why can't you be
like the rest of them?

♪

narrator:
In this kind of community,

the indigenous slave tituba
stuck out like a sore thumb,

and she very soon admitted
that she was indeed in league

with the devil
to bewitch the girls.

Bellinger:
Tituba confesses almost
immediately to witchcraft.

Why? Was she a witch?
Almost certainly not.

But she confessed

and began
to tell a very elaborate story

about consorting with the devil
in very intimate terms.

Now, counterintuitively,
that probably saved her life.

None of the people who confessed
to practicing witchcraft

in the salem witch trials
were killed.

Those accused who claimed
innocence all hung.

[ wood creaking ]

narrator: As a result
of the paradoxical incentive

for the accused to admit guilt,

within weeks,
the events unleashed

by the unusual behavior
of the two girls

in the parsonage
rapidly spiraled

into an uncontrollable
and terrifying witch-hunt.

For us today, one of the most
shocking things

about the witch trial at salem

was the widespread use
of untested children's evidence.

And this happened
because of two things.

The first was that in 1597,

king james I of England

had written a book called
"daemonologie."

and in it, he tried to convince
the world that witches were real

and their offenses
were so diabolical

that all evidence possible
should be taken

and should be used to find them,
including children's evidence.

And then not long afterwards,

in pendle in lancashire
in 1612,

there was a very famous trial
in which a 9-year-old girl,

jennet device, sent her entire
family to the gallows.

The court clerk
wrote that story up,

and it became
an international bestseller.

It was even read in america,
in places like salem.

So by the time
of the trials in salem,

the idea of children
giving evidence in witch trials

was completely normalized.

You had children accusing
their parents of being witches,

husbands accusing their wives,
wives of their husbands.

Nobody was safe.

Once you were accused,
it was a domino effect.

You would accuse someone else,
try to deflect the attention

from you
to some other poor soul.

It was absolute pandemonium.

Narrator: The outcome of salem's
unrestrained legal witch hunt

was the judicial execution
of 20 innocent men and women.

On the surface,

the trials were just
about allegations of witchcraft.

But it seems that many accusers
used the opportunity

of the witch hunt
to eliminate their enemies.

♪

narrator: The outcome of salem's
infamous witch hunt in 1692

was the judicial execution
of 20 innocent men and women.

Today, each of the victims
is remembered

at salem's witch trials
memorial,

as salem historian
sam baltrusis explains.

Baltrusis:
This was erected in 1992

to honor the 300-year
anniversary

of the salem witch trials.

These markers are actually
in sequential order

based on
when they were executed,

so it starts with bridget bishop

and it ends
with samuel wardwell.

Narrator: Caught up in
a terrifying legal whirlwind,

the 20 people memorialized here
were all executed

within just over 100 days
during the summer of 1692.

Given the kind of evidence
that was allowed in court,

the accused
didn't stand a chance.

A lot of the accusations
were ridiculous.

Baltrusis: If you read some of
them, there was a ghost pig.

This ghost pig had the face
of alice parker on it

and chased this man,
john westgate,

down the streets of salem
in 1692,

and that was used to accuse

and execute
an innocent woman of witchcraft.

Bellinger: The salem witch
trials were a classic expression

of what happens when a group
succumbs to mass hysteria

and things get out
of their control.

It's important to remember
that colonial salem

was essentially
medieval England.

These immigrants brought with
them superstitious folk beliefs

that would make it very easy
for witches

to feel really
genuinely frightening.

Narrator: The admission of
so-called spectral evidence

followed english legal precedent
set at an earlier witch trial

at bury st. Edmonds in England
in the 1660s.

People could testify
to being attacked

by a witch in spirit form,
even though their specter

was obviously
invisible to anyone else.

Not only that,
these unsupported accusations

could be made by children, too.

Selwood:
The salem witch trial court

with hysterical people,
the court sitting day after day,

new accusations coming out
regularly against more people.

The net widening
and everybody being convicted.

No real ability to present
a defense

and no real sense that anybody
wanted to listen to your defense

must have been
utterly terrifying.

This is the memorial
for bridget bishop,

bridget bishop was
the first woman to be executed.

She was portrayed
as a loose woman

who would wear lacy garb
and red clothing.

But the red was a signal --
or a sign of wealth,

and that's why the town
did not like her.

Bridget would get
these beautiful dresses made

by local townspeople

and kind of mysteriously
lose her purse

while they're asking
for the money.

So if anything, she was guilty
of penny-pinching.

But that doesn't
make you a witch.

♪

narrator: In salem's court,
however, five young girls,

including sam baltrusis'
distant relative,

12-year-old ann putnam jr.,

testified that richard bishop
had bewitched them.

After various adults

also said they had been
tormented by her specter,

bridget was found guilty
and hanged on June 10, 1692.

♪

after bridget bishop's
execution,

13 other salem women were also
convicted and hanged,

including sarah good,

who insisted until her
last breath on the gallows

that she was innocent.

According to legend, she cursed
one of the reverends

who were responsible
for the witch trials.

She said, "if I'm a witch,
then you're a wizard,

and may god
give you blood to drink."

well, guess what --

the guy had a brain aneurysm,

ended up
choking on his own blood.

Narrator: As well as
the 14 women hanged in salem

for being witches,
six men were also put to death.

Remarkably, one was a previous
reverend of salem village,

george burroughs.

Baltrusis:
Now, at this point,

they were looking for sort of
like the devil himself,

and according to ann putnam jr.
And multiple people

that testified against
reverend george burroughs,

he was the devil.

He was sort of the ringleader.

But he was having
a lot of financial issues

and borrowed money
from the putnam family.

Narrator:
On the surface, the salem trials

were just about
allegations of witchcraft.

But it seems many accusers used
the opportunity

to eliminate their enemies.

Reverend burroughs had failed
to repay his debts

to ann putnam jr.'s father,
thomas putnam,

for over 10 years,

and many believe
this was the main reason

why he became caught up
in the witch hunt.

Hoffman: Socially, there was
a lot of bickering over land

and like, who owned what.

So there was a lot of tension
going on.

And usually when we find
accusations of heresy

and witchcraft and demons
and whatnot,

there's usually something
much more common

and banal underpinning it.

If someone wanted your land,

if somebody wanted
your property,

if they didn't like you,

then the easiest way of
getting rid of you

is to point
the fickle finger of fate.

"I'll call you a witch."

baltrusis:
Reverend george burroughs,

on all accounts,
was not a perfect person,

but he was a reverend.

He was definitely
not the devil himself.

And when the people
saw him executed,

there was a quietness
that happened with the group

because they felt like
what they were doing was wrong.

Narrator: The thing that most
affected people

at reverend burroughs'
public execution

was the fact that he loudly
recited the lord's prayer

just as he was about
to be hanged.

Surely no devil worshiper
would do this.

♪

yet despite the growing public
doubts about the salem trials,

the witch hunts still continued.

Among the last to be executed
was an elderly landowner,

giles corey.

However, he wasn't hanged

like the other victims
of the witch hunt.

Because he refused to plead
either guilty or not guilty,

the salem court, uniquely
in american judicial history,

ordered him to be tortured.

♪

narrator: During the infamous
salem witch trials in 1692,

20 innocent men
and women were executed

in one of history's
deadliest witch hunts.

All of them were hanged
except for one,

an elderly landowner named
giles corey,

who was tortured to death,

uniquely
in american judicial history.

The salem judges ordered him
to be slowly crushed

by heavy stones.

The story of giles corey
is really interesting

and very tragic.

His wife becomes accused
of witchcraft,

and he's horrified
because he believes it.

He believes that she's a witch,
and all this time he never knew.

But quickly the tables turn,
and he's accused of witchcraft.

♪

local historian thomas vallor
is an expert on the story

of what happened
to giles corey and why.

In the beginning, giles was
a big fan of the witch trials.

He loved going.
He loved checking them out.

It was fun for people back then.

But his wife, martha corey,
could see through the hysteria

a little bit better than him,
and she would try

to discourage him
from going to see the trials.

Narrator:
But giles corey's views

about the witch trials
quickly changed

once he and his wife got caught
up in the witch hunt themselves.

Giles was accused,
like so many others,

by ann putnam jr., as well
as several other young girls.

And you can see
during his trial, the accusers,

the way that they spoke,

it was a way of like tugging
on people's heartstrings.

It was really dramatic.

"I saw an apparition of giles
corey come and afflict me.

He did afflict and torture me
most grievously several times.

And I verily believe in my heart

that giles corey
is a dreadful wizard."

narrator: When giles corey was
questioned in court

about the accusations
of witchcraft,

he used an unusual legal tactic,

refusing to plead either guilty
or not guilty.

Vallor: Giles understood
what was going on.

He had been a lawyer
when he was younger,

and he could see that the way
the court proceedings

were working out,
a lot of the times

they were confiscating the land
and property of the victims.

He knew that they were coming
for him, too,

because he had a lot of land.

Felix: In those days,

if you remained mute,
even if you were found guilty,

your property would not go
to the crown.

So he remained mute so that his
family could get his property,

his land, his money.

Narrator: But the accused had no
legal right to silence in 1692,

so the salem court sentenced
giles corey to be tortured

in order to force him to plead.

Vallor: No one knows exactly
where giles corey

was pressed to death,
but generally speaking,

it was outside
of the witch dungeon,

which was located
just a bit over there.

So a lot of the local historians
like to go on the theory

that it was in this back corner
here of howard street cemetery.

♪

♪

felix:
So the sentence was that you'd
be taken from this courtroom

and weights of stone
as heavy as you can bear

and heavier
to be placed upon your body

until you either plead
or you die.

♪

gough: While he's being
tortured, the sheriff asked him,

"have you changed your mind?
Will you enter a plea?"

to which he replies,

"more weight, more weight."

complete defiance,
and more weight he got.

♪

vallor: Remember, they weren't
trying to kill him.

They wanted him to give up.
They wanted him to give in.

So they made it slow.

They made it last
as long as they could.

The man who is in charge
of the pressing of giles corey

was sheriff george corwin,

who I like to call the sick,
sadistic sheriff of salem,

because it's alliteration,
but also it's true.

It's very clear
that he was a sadistic person,

and he enjoyed torturing people.

Gough: Can you really imagine
how awful it would have been

to have died in this fashion?

Slowly crushed to death,
slowly suffocating.

Hour after hour.

Vallor: So after two days of
this torture, giles corey dies,

but not before issuing a curse
on the sheriff and the village.

He said, "I curse you all
and salem, too."

♪

narrator:
Giles corey's refusal to plead

before his death
successfully led to his family

inheriting his land
and property.

But according to
local salem legend,

giles corey's most enduring
legacy

was the curse that he uttered
with his last dying breath.

It's said that his curse
and his ghost

still haunts salem to this day.

♪

♪

narrator: During the notorious
salem witch trials of 1692,

20 innocent people
were executed.

One of the last victims
of the witch hunt

was landowner giles corey.

Uniquely in american
judicial history,

he was tortured in order to
force him

to plead either guilty
or not guilty,

but to ensure his family
inherited his property,

giles corey refused to plead up
until his last gasp.

Gough:
Finally, in his final breath,

he issues a curse
not only to the sheriff,

but to the entire village.

Ever since then,
strangely enough,

starting with sheriff corwin,

every single high sheriff
of essex county seated in salem

died while in office
or had to retire early

due to heart disease
or random blood diseases,

and this lasted all the way up
until 1991.

Narrator:
Giles corey's deadly curse

is said to have been broken
only by essex county

moving the sheriff's office
out of salem in 1991.

The other side of the curse
that more locals know about

is they say that they'll see
giles' specter,

his ghost,
kind of wandering around

before terrible things
happen to the city.

Gough: Decade after decade,

people would see this apparition
on the spot where he died.

But the most famous
manifestation of this apparition

of giles corey was in 1914,

right before the great fire
of salem.

Some women said that they saw
the old man

standing kind of around
this general area.

They saw from his,
like, waist up.

And when they called to him,
he disappeared.

That night, about one-third of
the city of salem began to burn.

♪

narrator: Curiously, for those
who believe in curses,

salem's great fire in 1914
began in a building

very close to the place where
the alleged witches in 1692

were all hanged.

Giles corey's curse
remains famous,

but historically,
his most important legacy

was that his uniquely
gruesome torture

became a major turning point
of the salem witch hunt.

Vallor: Public opinion really
began to change.

Even though giles corey
wasn't seen as a good person,

what happened to him was just
so unfathomably disgusting

that it changed the way
that people looked at this.

People really started
to understand

that something terrible
was happening.

Narrator: The last victims of
the witch hunt

were hanged
on September 22, 1692,

just three days
after giles corey's death.

Within just a few
terrifying months,

20 innocent men and women
had been wrongfully executed

by the colonial
american justice system.

Even though we classify it
as a witch trial,

actually it's a miscarriage
of justice.

This is mass hysteria

resulting in an extraordinary
number of deaths.

So we have to see it
in that more modern context.

Immediately, there was
an incredible

outpouring of contrition
and remorse.

And the families of the victims
were recompensed for lost money.

Obviously, they couldn't
get back their loved ones.

Narrator: Official pardons were
also granted

to the witch hunt victims.

But in the years
that followed the tragic events,

the salem region suffered many
misfortunes,

such as droughts, crop failures,
smallpox outbreaks,

and tribal attacks,
making many puritans

feel that god was continuing to
punish them for their mistake.

♪

nonetheless, the witch trials
were a turning point

for religion in america.

Really, I think if you look
at this time period,

it was the beginning of the end
of a theocracy, right.

This was a time when religion
was the end-all and be-all here.

And this showed that
it couldn't be maybe trusted

with such complete control.

And it started breaking down
at that point.

Selwood:
America was set up as a country

where people could express
their own religious views.

They were escaping religious
persecution in the old world

to live out their vision
of a better world.

And the fact that so quickly
it descended

into this kind of
religious tyranny,

I think is something that still
haunts the american imagination.

Narrator: A century after
the salem witch trials,

the newly independent
united states

guaranteed the separation
of church and state,

and in the constitution's
first amendment,

proclaimed freedom
of religious expression

as one of the country's
founding ideals.

Today, protected by
the full force of the law,

witchcraft in all its forms

is one of the united states'
fastest-growing religions.

♪

witchcraft for so long
was the taboo thing,

the absolutely forbidden thing

that had to be rooted out
at all costs.

And yet now society
has come to understand

and embrace
and accept witchcraft.

This would have been
unimaginable to the people

in salem in the 1690s.

And the thing that would
probably have horrified them

the most
is that their history

has become such a vibrant part
of that growth story.

Now, salem is a haven
for modern-day witchcraft.

Everything that you can find
to do with modern witchcraft

and modern pagan practices
is now in salem.

This is almost international
world headquarters for it.

Narrator: In particular,

salem today is renowned
as america's

top Halloween destination,

attracting large numbers
of revelers every October.

[ cackling ]

happy Halloween from salem,
massachusetts.

Happy Halloween.

[ cheering ]
-happy Halloween!

♪

narrator:
Throughout the year,

salem proudly promotes itself
as the witch city

and is home to a huge number
of shops

that sell witchcraft supplies

and mysterious
occult paraphernalia

for casting magic spells.

Dickinson: When the first
witchcraft shop opened in salem,

where witches, alleged witches,
were put to death,

it was almost like
an "I dare you."

"I dare you" to try to take this
right away from me.

So I think it's a very american
type of freedom, isn't it?

Narrator: Ironically, even those
executed as witches in 1692

would certainly
have been outraged

by all the witchcraft
going on in salem today.

I think the spirits
of the accused

from the salem witch trials
are still here.

I also think
it's important to note

none of the actual accused
in the salem witchcraft trials

were actually witches.

So they probably don't look
at us too fondly for practicing.

So out in the open here.

♪

narrator: Today, many witches
and residents of salem

believe the spirits
of those accused in 1692 remain,

vengefully haunting the town

as a result
of their wrongful executions.

Salem historian sam baltrusis
feels particularly cursed

because of his relation
to ann putnam jr.,

whose testimony sent
so many victims to the gallows.

♪

sam is looking to modern-day
salem witchcraft

to lift the curse.

♪

narrator: During the infamous
salem witch trials of 1692,

20 innocent men and women
were executed.

Today, salem is renowned
not just for being the site

of one of history's
deadliest witch hunts,

but also for its
remarkable present-day
population of witches.

♪

man: I conjure this circle
as a barrier

to protect this space
from all malice and harm.

I conjure this circle

to serve as a place
beyond time and space

where the gods and spirits

may meet in perfect love
and perfect trust.

This space is declared sacred.

[ stick tapping ]

gough: Today,
witchcraft is extremely popular,

and I believe that is because
you don't need an institution

to tell you what to do
and when to do it.

You're not following the dogma
of a big organized religion.

Man: I invite you
to affirm with me this title

to claim this power as your own.

Speak up forth
and make it so.

I am witch.

All: I am witch.

The fascination now
with witchcraft

and the general societal
openness towards it,

in many places, it is lawfully
recognized as a religion.

It's something that those back
in salem

at the time of the trials

simply could not
even have comprehended.

Narrator:
Ironically, although witchcraft

is practiced very openly
in salem today,

back in 16 92, when so many
people were executed as witches,

there was almost certainly
no witchcraft happening.

As a result of the terrible
miscarriage of justice in 1692,

salem historian sam baltrusis
believes that salem today

remains cursed by the spirits
of those wrongfully executed.

As someone who has written about
the spirits of salem

and the impact
of the salem witch trials,

I have to say that salem,
without a doubt,

is the most haunted location
in the country.

What happened in 1692 left a
psychic imprint on the land.

The land is stained with blood.

Narrator: Sam believes that
he's also personally cursed

because of his relation
to ann putnam jr.,

who accused 17
of the 20 men and women

wrongfully executed in 1692.

Hoping that
a witchcraft ceremony

will be able to magically
lift his curse,

sam has come to the parsonage
where the salem witch hunt began

with witch high priestess
dana masson.

Sacred space has been created.

A crystal shield is
surrounding us

above, below and on all sides.

Anything malevolent, evil
or bane has been cast forth

from this space.

Only that which is of love
and light may remain.

So mote it be.

Narrator: Dana has a personal
interest in this ceremony, too,

because she happens
to be related

to a victim of the witch hunt,
elizabeth howe,

one of the many who was accused
by ann putnam jr.

I call unto and invite
to this sacred space

the spirits of those
who were accused

in the salem witch trials
of 1692

to join us in our circle today.

♪

I call unto and invite those
who were accusers

in the salem witch trials
in 1692

to join us in our circle today.

Hail and welcome.

[ exhales ]

so I feel -- I feel like

when you called forward
the accusers,

I feel like that ann putnam jr.
Is here with us.

I think she is, too.

Narrator:
Now that all the spirits
of the wrongfully executed

are believed to be gathered
inside the magic circle,

sam hopes that
by restating an apology,

which ann putnam jr.
Regretfully wrote

after the witch trials,

the vengeful spirits
will lift their curse.

Baltrusis: So I'm going
to apologize to you

representing elizabeth howe.

And these are your words.

"I desire to be humbled
before god

for the accusing of several
persons of a grievous crime

whereby their lives
were taken away from them,

whom now I have good reason to
believe were innocent persons,

and earnestly beg forgiveness
of god

and from all those
onto whom I have given

just cause
of sorrow and offense,

whose relations were
taken away or accused."

so I apologize to you
and the innocent victims

for my cousin
ann putnam jr.

On behalf of elizabeth howe
and all of the other accused,

I accept.

♪

♪

narrator:
Sam hopes the curse

that he believes
has afflicted him will now

be lifted by the spirits
of those wrongfully executed.

But most of all,

just as ann putnam jr.
Learned from her mistakes,

he hopes that the lessons
of the salem witch hunt

will be learned
all across the world,

because, sadly,

murderous witch hunts
are still taking place today.

♪

♪

narrator: During the notorious
salem witch trials in 1692,

20 innocent men
and women were executed

in one of history's
deadliest witch hunts.

Gough: The irony
and undoubtedly the tragedy

is that none of the people
executed

in salem
for witchcraft were witches.

They were behaving just a little
bit different from the norm.

But that was enough
to accuse them of witchcraft.

Narrator:
12-year-old ann putnam jr.

Was one of the most
prolific accusers,

whose testimony helped convict
17 of the 20 accused witches

who were executed.

Among those she testified
against were george burroughs,

the former reverend
of salem village,

and giles corey,

the only person
in american judicial history

to be tortured to death
for refusing to plead.

Picknett: There is no doubt that
a terrible historic wrong

was done
to all the accused at salem.

It was just... [ sighs ]
an utterly tragic case

of mass hysteria,

which just got completely
out of hand.

It's almost impossible
to imagine the terror

of being one
of the accused at salem.

To know that you're not
bewitching anybody.

You're not possessed
by the devil.

You're just an ordinary person.

And suddenly all
of your neighbors

that you might have got
on well with in previous times

are there
pointing the finger at you

and saying you're a witch.
"kill, kill, kill."

narrator:
For the modern united states,

salem's frenzied witch hunt
back in 1692

has served as a stark warning

of the dangers
of religious tyranny.

It's because freedom
of religious expression is today

constitutionally guaranteed
in the united states

that salem has been able

to become a hotbed
of modern witchcraft.

Allouise: This town needed
a sort of reclamation

after what happened here.

Horrors happened
and people were executed.

Now it's a place
where witchcraft in a community

is thriving and flourishing.

So it's taking it back
for the practitioners now

and saying we won't
allow something like
this to happen again.

♪

narrator: But sadly,

although the lessons of history
have been learned in salem,

elsewhere, murderous witch hunts
are still taking place today.

Selwood: When we look and smile
at the bright lights

and exuberance of salem today,
we should remember

that allegations of witchcraft
have not gone away.

There are parts of the world in
which allegations of witchcraft

are still brought against
people, predominantly women,

and they are regularly convicted
and executed for witchcraft.

Unfortunately, all over
the world,

people are being condemned
as witches and horribly killed,

tortured, you name it,
especially in african countries

or in parts of asia.

Narrator:
Just like in salem in 1692,

in modern day witch hunts,

the main accusers often hope
to take land

and property
from the accused.

And as in salem, the accusers
often enlist support

against the marginalized victims
by whipping up mass hysteria.

All it takes is one person
says, "that woman over there

is a witch,"
and the mob descends.

It's just this sheer, vicious,
primitive horror

that seems to lurk
in people's minds.

And when you get a mob together,
they share in that mentality.

Narrator: 21st-century
witch hunts around the world

are a reminder
that the lessons of history

must continually be learned

or else history
will be repeated.

The salem witch trials,

the world's most notorious
witch hunt,

remains
a tragic cautionary tale.

Felix: There's no doubt
a terrible wrong

was done on all of the accused.

They were all innocent

of everything other
than they deviated slightly

from what the puritans
thought at the time.

It's haunted america
for the best part of 300 years.

Gough: Throughout the course
of history,

there have been many american
miscarriages of justice,

but perhaps none greater
than the salem witch trials.

Narrator: Given what happened
back in 1692,

it's surely one of history's
greatest ironies

that today
salem has become

the proud capital
of modern american witchcraft,

even though there almost
certainly weren't any witches

at all in salem in 1692.

There are plenty now.

So despite
the infamous witch hunt,

you could say that in the end,

freedom of religious
expression won.

♪