1. TBN
  2. Programs
  3. Centuries Collide
  4. Episodes
  5. Cody Crouch: American Horror Story | Centuries Collide
Centuries Collide

Cody Crouch: American Horror Story | Centuries Collide

March 1, 2025 | S2:E15

Cody Crouch: American Horror Story | Centuries Collide
What do you get when you mix puritans, teenagers, and possible “egg magic”? Double, double toil and trouble. With a side of cancel culture! Get ready for the true, actual, and totally spooky story of what really happened in Salem, Massachusetts. This is the original American horror story — The Salem Witch Trials.
#Faith #Fear #AmericanHistory #History #Culture #Government #Trials-HardTimes #WordofGod #inActive #CodyCrouch #Devil #Documentary #Witchcraft #Occult

Closed captions

Show Timecode
Centuries Collide | Cody Crouch: American Horror Story | Centuries Collide | March 1, 2025
  • - i am cody crouch, and this is the craziest
  • 00:00:00.423 --> 00:00:03.226
  • Crash course on american history you'll ever see.
  • 00:00:03.226 --> 00:00:07.297
  • Buckle up.
  • 00:00:07.297 --> 00:00:08.431
  • It's time for centuries collide.
  • 00:00:08.431 --> 00:00:09.999
  • [horse whinneys] ♪♪
  • 00:00:09.999 --> 00:00:12.702
  • The 16th century was a big deal for the new world.
  • 00:00:12.702 --> 00:00:16.306
  • The colony at jamestown was a thing.
  • 00:00:16.306 --> 00:00:18.541
  • The mayflower pilgrims made a splash at plymouth
  • 00:00:18.541 --> 00:00:21.611
  • Rock, and the first thanksgiving meal was
  • 00:00:21.611 --> 00:00:23.880
  • Served, and word started to spread.
  • 00:00:23.880 --> 00:00:26.049
  • The old world was old and boring, but the new world
  • 00:00:26.049 --> 00:00:30.353
  • [chuckles] was pretty cool.
  • 00:00:30.353 --> 00:00:32.789
  • Soon colonies started springing up like crazy,
  • 00:00:32.789 --> 00:00:35.291
  • And little towns dotted the map everywhere.
  • 00:00:35.291 --> 00:00:38.361
  • Like this quaint, peaceful village was
  • 00:00:38.361 --> 00:00:40.130
  • Known for fishing, shipbuilding, timber, and
  • 00:00:40.130 --> 00:00:42.765
  • Delicious seafood, as well as corrupt judges,
  • 00:00:42.765 --> 00:00:46.402
  • Rival families, magic spells, and yes,
  • 00:00:46.402 --> 00:00:50.340
  • Wicked witches. [witch cackling]
  • 00:00:50.340 --> 00:00:52.275
  • You know the name.
  • 00:00:52.275 --> 00:00:53.343
  • The salem witch trials has got to be one of the
  • 00:00:53.343 --> 00:00:56.546
  • Weirdest stories in american history.
  • 00:00:56.546 --> 00:00:59.115
  • Let me set the stage.
  • 00:00:59.115 --> 00:01:00.216
  • The american colonies, especially in the north,
  • 00:01:00.216 --> 00:01:03.119
  • Were founded by god-fearing people who
  • 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:05.889
  • Were fleeing religious persecution in europe.
  • 00:01:05.889 --> 00:01:09.125
  • - lord, we thank you for this new land to escape
  • 00:01:09.125 --> 00:01:13.563
  • The persecution of our beliefs.
  • 00:01:13.563 --> 00:01:15.899
  • - amen.
  • 00:01:15.899 --> 00:01:17.800
  • - amen and amen.
  • 00:01:17.800 --> 00:01:20.003
  • ♪♪
  • 00:01:20.003 --> 00:01:25.742
  • Didn't you think the rock would be bigger?
  • 00:01:25.742 --> 00:01:28.311
  • - they just wanted a place where they could go
  • 00:01:28.311 --> 00:01:30.079
  • To practice their religion without the fear
  • 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:32.515
  • Of death, and salem was a pretty chill place to be.
  • 00:01:32.515 --> 00:01:35.985
  • At first, this little settlement was known as
  • 00:01:35.985 --> 00:01:38.154
  • Naumkeag which to the indigenous people of the
  • 00:01:38.154 --> 00:01:41.224
  • Area meant fish or fishing place.
  • 00:01:41.224 --> 00:01:44.127
  • Now, the word naumkeag can also mean to buff a
  • 00:01:44.127 --> 00:01:47.530
  • Shoe bottom.
  • 00:01:47.530 --> 00:01:48.831
  • Either way, it's a good thing
  • 00:01:48.831 --> 00:01:50.366
  • The naming committee reconsidered.
  • 00:01:50.366 --> 00:01:52.702
  • - i go for lump sucker massachusetts.
  • 00:01:52.702 --> 00:01:54.604
  • It's a type of fish and it rhymes with
  • 00:01:54.604 --> 00:01:55.905
  • Dump sucker.
  • 00:01:55.905 --> 00:01:56.706
  • So it's cool.
  • 00:01:56.706 --> 00:01:57.807
  • - what about cobbler top? - like peach cobbler?
  • 00:01:57.807 --> 00:02:00.143
  • - no, shoe cobbler.
  • 00:02:00.143 --> 00:02:02.612
  • - you know, peach cobbler sounds pretty good.
  • 00:02:02.612 --> 00:02:04.681
  • I can go for a piece.
  • 00:02:04.681 --> 00:02:06.516
  • - peace.
  • 00:02:06.516 --> 00:02:07.750
  • That's it.
  • 00:02:07.750 --> 00:02:08.952
  • Peace.
  • 00:02:08.952 --> 00:02:10.587
  • - piece of what?
  • 00:02:10.587 --> 00:02:11.754
  • - in the end, they came up with a different name,
  • 00:02:11.754 --> 00:02:13.856
  • Salem, which comes from the word shalom, the
  • 00:02:13.856 --> 00:02:15.959
  • Hebrew word for peace.
  • 00:02:15.959 --> 00:02:18.394
  • So how do we go from a village named peace to a
  • 00:02:18.394 --> 00:02:21.531
  • Witch-crazed mob that hanged 19 innocent people?
  • 00:02:21.531 --> 00:02:24.968
  • Well, it's actually really simple.
  • 00:02:24.968 --> 00:02:27.537
  • Dungeons and dragons.
  • 00:02:27.537 --> 00:02:30.106
  • Just kidding.
  • 00:02:30.106 --> 00:02:31.174
  • I wish history could be that simple, but it
  • 00:02:31.174 --> 00:02:32.508
  • Never is.
  • 00:02:32.508 --> 00:02:34.177
  • The story starts in 1689 with reverend samuel paris.
  • 00:02:34.177 --> 00:02:38.648
  • - i got you a gift.
  • 00:02:38.648 --> 00:02:39.749
  • - okay.
  • 00:02:39.749 --> 00:02:40.617
  • Size.
  • 00:02:40.617 --> 00:02:41.517
  • No, that's too large.
  • 00:02:41.517 --> 00:02:42.452
  • I'm size six and a half.
  • 00:02:42.452 --> 00:02:43.453
  • Take it away.
  • 00:02:43.453 --> 00:02:43.987
  • Thank you.
  • 00:02:43.987 --> 00:02:45.054
  • - after dropping out of harvard seminary to
  • 00:02:45.054 --> 00:02:46.189
  • Manage his family's sugar plantation in barbados,
  • 00:02:46.189 --> 00:02:49.025
  • He attempted to reinvent himself as a man of the cloth.
  • 00:02:49.025 --> 00:02:53.062
  • - what do we have?
  • 00:02:53.062 --> 00:02:54.030
  • An unscented candle.
  • 00:02:54.030 --> 00:02:55.398
  • Try harder.
  • 00:02:55.398 --> 00:02:56.499
  • Okay.
  • 00:02:56.499 --> 00:02:57.767
  • Bless you,
  • 00:02:57.767 --> 00:02:58.701
  • Good, sir.
  • 00:02:58.701 --> 00:02:59.802
  • The lord bless you and keep you.
  • 00:02:59.802 --> 00:03:01.571
  • - folks in town thought he was too rigid and greedy.
  • 00:03:01.571 --> 00:03:04.907
  • Believe it or not, all of the famous salem witchy
  • 00:03:04.907 --> 00:03:07.644
  • Hocus pocus actually started in reverend
  • 00:03:07.644 --> 00:03:10.446
  • Paris' own home.
  • 00:03:10.446 --> 00:03:12.482
  • Quite the coincidence, don't you think?
  • 00:03:12.482 --> 00:03:16.586
  • In january of 1692, his 9-year-old daughter,
  • 00:03:16.586 --> 00:03:19.756
  • Elizabeth and her tweenage cousin abigail,
  • 00:03:19.756 --> 00:03:22.859
  • Experienced something super creepy, perhaps
  • 00:03:22.859 --> 00:03:27.030
  • Even supernaturally creepy.
  • 00:03:27.030 --> 00:03:30.199
  • The girls were playing with whatever it is.
  • 00:03:30.199 --> 00:03:32.535
  • Girls in the 1600s played with and things
  • 00:03:32.535 --> 00:03:35.238
  • Got weird.
  • 00:03:35.238 --> 00:03:36.306
  • Anne and abigail seemed to lose their senses.
  • 00:03:36.306 --> 00:03:39.442
  • They weren't able to hear, speak, or see.
  • 00:03:39.442 --> 00:03:42.812
  • They even felt prickly sensations in their skin.
  • 00:03:42.812 --> 00:03:46.082
  • They threw things, uttered strange sounds.
  • 00:03:46.082 --> 00:03:48.985
  • They felt hot and feverish to the touch.
  • 00:03:48.985 --> 00:03:52.889
  • They had violent convulsions and twisted
  • 00:03:52.889 --> 00:03:54.257
  • Their bodies into what some observers called
  • 00:03:54.257 --> 00:03:55.825
  • Impossible positions.
  • 00:03:55.825 --> 00:03:58.961
  • So reverend paris and his wife called upon
  • 00:03:58.961 --> 00:04:01.331
  • Dr. william griggs to diagnose the problem.
  • 00:04:01.331 --> 00:04:04.300
  • - medically speaking, it could be anything, but
  • 00:04:04.300 --> 00:04:06.736
  • Who's to say that a nine-year-old girl has
  • 00:04:06.736 --> 00:04:09.105
  • Kneecaps or a bladder or kidneys anyway.
  • 00:04:09.105 --> 00:04:11.474
  • - the doctor unable to find anything
  • 00:04:11.474 --> 00:04:13.643
  • Physically wrong with the girls
  • 00:04:13.643 --> 00:04:15.912
  • Jumped to the only logical conclusion.
  • 00:04:15.912 --> 00:04:18.715
  • - put your left-hand in.
  • 00:04:18.715 --> 00:04:20.583
  • Take your left hand out.
  • 00:04:20.583 --> 00:04:22.318
  • Okay, now put your right hand in and shake it all
  • 00:04:22.318 --> 00:04:24.053
  • About, okay?
  • 00:04:24.053 --> 00:04:25.722
  • Do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around. okay?
  • 00:04:25.722 --> 00:04:28.725
  • That's what it's all about.
  • 00:04:28.725 --> 00:04:30.226
  • - doctor, what's your diagnosis?
  • 00:04:30.226 --> 00:04:31.527
  • - she's a witch.
  • 00:04:31.527 --> 00:04:32.695
  • The devil's bewitched her. ahp, devil's in her, too.
  • 00:04:32.695 --> 00:04:38.668
  • - but here's where the story gets even weirder.
  • 00:04:39.602 --> 00:04:41.504
  • Elizabeth and abigail weren't the only ones.
  • 00:04:41.504 --> 00:04:44.340
  • There were other creepy happenings bubbling up
  • 00:04:44.340 --> 00:04:46.809
  • All over salem.
  • 00:04:46.809 --> 00:04:49.011
  • There was even rumors of girls dabbling in
  • 00:04:49.011 --> 00:04:50.680
  • Divination, which for those who didn't go to
  • 00:04:50.680 --> 00:04:53.182
  • Hogwarts, is the art of looking into the future
  • 00:04:53.182 --> 00:04:56.052
  • With the help of magic.
  • 00:04:56.052 --> 00:04:58.321
  • [bubbling] [eerie music]
  • 00:04:58.321 --> 00:05:06.829
  • [poof] [screams]
  • 00:05:06.829 --> 00:05:07.964
  • And according to a local minister, john hale,
  • 00:05:07.964 --> 00:05:10.066
  • Things went from creepy bad to hide your kids,
  • 00:05:10.066 --> 00:05:13.436
  • Hide your wife, because the devil's coming
  • 00:05:13.436 --> 00:05:15.104
  • After everybody.
  • 00:05:15.104 --> 00:05:17.273
  • But i'll let the good reverend speak for himself.
  • 00:05:17.273 --> 00:05:26.716
  • - called up a coffin.
  • 00:05:27.216 --> 00:05:29.018
  • Well spectre in the likeness of a coffin, and
  • 00:05:29.018 --> 00:05:31.988
  • She was afterward followed by diabolical
  • 00:05:31.988 --> 00:05:34.690
  • Molestation until death where she died
  • 00:05:34.690 --> 00:05:38.027
  • A single person
  • 00:05:38.027 --> 00:05:39.162
  • Mind you. let this be a just warning to others.
  • 00:05:39.162 --> 00:05:43.132
  • Take heed when handling the devil's weapons.
  • 00:05:43.132 --> 00:05:47.036
  • - yes, those are his actual words.
  • 00:05:47.036 --> 00:05:49.372
  • His perspective shines a little light on the
  • 00:05:49.372 --> 00:05:51.908
  • Religious attitudes of the day.
  • 00:05:51.908 --> 00:05:53.943
  • First, notice how he said this young woman died a
  • 00:05:53.943 --> 00:05:58.014
  • Single person, as if that in itself is a fate
  • 00:05:58.014 --> 00:06:00.983
  • Worse than death.
  • 00:06:00.983 --> 00:06:02.785
  • Second, you can see just how terrified these
  • 00:06:02.785 --> 00:06:05.388
  • People were of the devil.
  • 00:06:05.388 --> 00:06:07.790
  • These new england folks took witchcraft
  • 00:06:07.790 --> 00:06:09.792
  • Really seriously.
  • 00:06:09.792 --> 00:06:12.195
  • And third, he mentioned that these girls were
  • 00:06:12.195 --> 00:06:13.963
  • Practicing divination using an egg and a glass.
  • 00:06:13.963 --> 00:06:18.534
  • [rooster crowing] what's that all about?
  • 00:06:18.534 --> 00:06:20.770
  • - hello, girls.
  • 00:06:20.770 --> 00:06:22.271
  • Would you like to learn about divination using eggs?
  • 00:06:22.271 --> 00:06:23.973
  • - i do.
  • 00:06:23.973 --> 00:06:24.674
  • - please.
  • 00:06:24.674 --> 00:06:25.274
  • We love divination.
  • 00:06:25.274 --> 00:06:26.442
  • - i love deviled eggs.
  • 00:06:26.442 --> 00:06:28.211
  • - this form of divination was called venus glass,
  • 00:06:28.211 --> 00:06:31.180
  • And seems to be what john hale was referring to in
  • 00:06:31.180 --> 00:06:33.783
  • His letter.
  • 00:06:33.783 --> 00:06:34.817
  • As the cloudy egg whites formed shapes in the
  • 00:06:34.817 --> 00:06:36.819
  • Water, young girls might even get a glimpse of the
  • 00:06:36.819 --> 00:06:39.522
  • Career of their future husband or whatever.
  • 00:06:39.522 --> 00:06:43.459
  • - what do you see?
  • 00:06:43.459 --> 00:06:44.627
  • - i see a plow.
  • 00:06:44.627 --> 00:06:47.730
  • My husband's going to be a farmer.
  • 00:06:47.730 --> 00:06:50.166
  • - congratulations. - thanks.
  • 00:06:50.166 --> 00:06:52.301
  • - my husband looks like a jellyfish.
  • 00:06:52.301 --> 00:06:56.973
  • - [gasps] a coffin. my husband, he's dead!
  • 00:06:56.973 --> 00:07:01.344
  • [screaming] [laughter]
  • 00:07:01.344 --> 00:07:09.785
  • - remember this was way before iphones.
  • 00:07:09.785 --> 00:07:12.121
  • There wasn't a whole lot to do back then.
  • 00:07:12.121 --> 00:07:14.524
  • There's a rumor that one of these magic egg
  • 00:07:14.524 --> 00:07:17.093
  • Thingies went so horribly wrong that one girl
  • 00:07:17.093 --> 00:07:21.531
  • Screamed herself to death.
  • 00:07:21.531 --> 00:07:24.834
  • I mean, it's not funny.
  • 00:07:24.834 --> 00:07:26.235
  • I just didn't know you could do that.
  • 00:07:26.235 --> 00:07:29.705
  • See what happens when you play around with egg
  • 00:07:29.705 --> 00:07:31.374
  • Magic, kids, you could scream yourself to
  • 00:07:31.374 --> 00:07:33.409
  • Death or die
  • 00:07:33.409 --> 00:07:34.810
  • A single young lady, according to john hale.
  • 00:07:34.810 --> 00:07:37.246
  • Anyway. in 1692, salem was positively bedeviled
  • 00:07:37.246 --> 00:07:43.052
  • With rumors of people being bedeviled.
  • 00:07:43.052 --> 00:07:46.522
  • Other girls in the village started
  • 00:07:46.522 --> 00:07:47.757
  • Experiencing eerie symptoms, too.
  • 00:07:47.757 --> 00:07:51.127
  • There were reports of girls hiding under
  • 00:07:51.127 --> 00:07:52.595
  • Furniture, mumbling, incoherently, exploding in
  • 00:07:52.595 --> 00:07:56.899
  • Fits of anger and experiencing nightmares.
  • 00:07:56.899 --> 00:08:01.003
  • Typical teenage witchy weirdness and salem was
  • 00:08:01.003 --> 00:08:04.574
  • On high alert.
  • 00:08:04.574 --> 00:08:06.442
  • - help us, reverend.
  • 00:08:06.442 --> 00:08:07.577
  • The girls have gone wild.
  • 00:08:07.577 --> 00:08:11.280
  • ♪♪
  • 00:08:11.280 --> 00:08:16.003
  • ♪♪
  • 00:08:16.188 --> 00:08:19.692
  • - reverend paris and thomas putnam, both
  • 00:08:19.692 --> 00:08:21.493
  • Prominent figures within their community started
  • 00:08:21.493 --> 00:08:24.129
  • Pressuring elizabeth and abigail for answers to
  • 00:08:24.129 --> 00:08:26.999
  • What the heck was going on.
  • 00:08:26.999 --> 00:08:29.301
  • In turn, the girls accused three other women
  • 00:08:29.301 --> 00:08:32.571
  • Of bewitching them.
  • 00:08:32.571 --> 00:08:35.040
  • Sarah good, a homeless beggar, sarah osborne,
  • 00:08:35.040 --> 00:08:38.744
  • Who hadn't been to church in a while,
  • 00:08:38.744 --> 00:08:41.013
  • And finally tituba the paris family's
  • 00:08:41.013 --> 00:08:43.182
  • Caribbean slave.
  • 00:08:43.182 --> 00:08:44.883
  • The witchy trio was brought before the court
  • 00:08:44.883 --> 00:08:47.252
  • Solidifying their bad girl reputations.
  • 00:08:47.252 --> 00:08:49.955
  • Now, it was tituba who was rumored to teach the
  • 00:08:49.955 --> 00:08:52.625
  • Girls this little venus glass trick and it
  • 00:08:52.625 --> 00:08:55.361
  • Gets worse.
  • 00:08:55.361 --> 00:08:56.462
  • The most damning of all was tituba's confession.
  • 00:08:56.462 --> 00:09:00.566
  • - the devil came to me and begged me, serve him.
  • 00:09:00.566 --> 00:09:04.370
  • - tituba described visions of unusual colored
  • 00:09:04.370 --> 00:09:07.206
  • Animals and a dark man who made her sign her
  • 00:09:07.206 --> 00:09:10.309
  • Name in his big black book.
  • 00:09:10.309 --> 00:09:12.444
  • - so you are a witch?
  • 00:09:12.444 --> 00:09:14.880
  • - no, but there are some other witches in this town.
  • 00:09:14.880 --> 00:09:19.518
  • - well, then please tell us who.
  • 00:09:19.518 --> 00:09:21.553
  • - i'll tell you later.
  • 00:09:21.553 --> 00:09:22.721
  • I ain't no snitch right now, and i ain't no witch.
  • 00:09:22.721 --> 00:09:23.689
  • Write that down.
  • 00:09:23.689 --> 00:09:24.890
  • - other witches in town? tituba's confession
  • 00:09:24.890 --> 00:09:27.793
  • Triggered mass hysteria here in salem.
  • 00:09:27.793 --> 00:09:30.963
  • First came the rumors and then came
  • 00:09:30.963 --> 00:09:32.631
  • The accusations.
  • 00:09:32.631 --> 00:09:33.999
  • Villagers accused each other of witchcraft for
  • 00:09:33.999 --> 00:09:36.135
  • All sorts of reasons.
  • 00:09:36.135 --> 00:09:38.070
  • A failed crop, an illness, a dead dog.
  • 00:09:38.070 --> 00:09:41.640
  • Anything that couldn't be explained had to
  • 00:09:41.640 --> 00:09:45.044
  • Be witchcraft.
  • 00:09:45.044 --> 00:09:46.745
  • In fact, if someone just thought someone looked
  • 00:09:46.745 --> 00:09:48.180
  • Like a witch or acted like a witch, they
  • 00:09:48.180 --> 00:09:50.916
  • Could be accused.
  • 00:09:50.916 --> 00:09:52.217
  • - let's say you're making a soup, stirring it up
  • 00:09:52.217 --> 00:09:54.186
  • Like so.
  • 00:09:54.186 --> 00:09:56.255
  • Not gazpacho. a witches brew.
  • 00:09:56.255 --> 00:09:58.424
  • Go to jail.
  • 00:09:58.424 --> 00:09:59.758
  • Let's say you've got a mole on your face.
  • 00:09:59.758 --> 00:10:01.427
  • You are a witch.
  • 00:10:01.427 --> 00:10:02.227
  • You beat me at monopoly.
  • 00:10:02.227 --> 00:10:03.429
  • You're a witch.
  • 00:10:03.429 --> 00:10:04.396
  • Freckles. jail. people don't like you.
  • 00:10:04.396 --> 00:10:06.965
  • Also jail. people like you
  • 00:10:06.965 --> 00:10:09.468
  • Too much. straight to jail.
  • 00:10:09.468 --> 00:10:11.103
  • - henry, i am your wife. - definitely a witch.
  • 00:10:11.103 --> 00:10:15.340
  • - things started to get so out of hand that the
  • 00:10:15.340 --> 00:10:17.309
  • Governor of massachusetts called for the
  • 00:10:17.309 --> 00:10:19.411
  • Establishment of a special court
  • 00:10:19.411 --> 00:10:21.914
  • Called the court of oyer and terminer,
  • 00:10:21.914 --> 00:10:23.849
  • Which means to hear and determine to preside over
  • 00:10:23.849 --> 00:10:26.518
  • These witch trials.
  • 00:10:26.518 --> 00:10:28.454
  • Now, this all brings up a really important question.
  • 00:10:28.454 --> 00:10:31.757
  • How do you determine a witch from a non-witch?
  • 00:10:31.757 --> 00:10:36.662
  • I mean, this is all happening in the court of
  • 00:10:36.662 --> 00:10:39.064
  • Law, so there had to be some pretty high standard
  • 00:10:39.064 --> 00:10:41.333
  • Of evidence, right?
  • 00:10:41.333 --> 00:10:43.802
  • Sadly, not even close.
  • 00:10:43.802 --> 00:10:46.171
  • - she couldn't accurately even say the lord's prayer.
  • 00:10:46.171 --> 00:10:50.142
  • [crowd gasps]
  • 00:10:50.142 --> 00:10:51.610
  • - she has a mole.
  • 00:10:51.610 --> 00:10:54.046
  • It's there, but you can't see it.
  • 00:10:54.046 --> 00:10:55.714
  • But it's there.
  • 00:10:55.714 --> 00:10:57.483
  • - i was asleep and she came to me in my dream!
  • 00:10:57.483 --> 00:10:59.918
  • [crowd gasps]
  • 00:10:59.918 --> 00:11:01.186
  • Judge: and?
  • 00:11:01.186 --> 00:11:02.121
  • - and she tormented me in my dream.
  • 00:11:02.121 --> 00:11:03.522
  • [crowd] oh!
  • 00:11:03.522 --> 00:11:04.890
  • - objection!
  • 00:11:04.890 --> 00:11:05.958
  • A dream can't be used as evidence.
  • 00:11:05.958 --> 00:11:08.460
  • - i agree.
  • 00:11:08.460 --> 00:11:09.728
  • It's pretty flimsy, but i'll allow it.
  • 00:11:09.728 --> 00:11:13.332
  • We shall hinseforth call this spectral evidence.
  • 00:11:13.332 --> 00:11:17.603
  • [singing] ding dong, the witches are dead...
  • 00:11:17.603 --> 00:11:19.238
  • Spectral evidence made their bed...
  • 00:11:19.238 --> 00:11:21.206
  • Ding-dong...
  • 00:11:21.206 --> 00:11:22.641
  • - spectral evidence is based on the idea that
  • 00:11:22.641 --> 00:11:24.910
  • Witches had so much devil power that they could
  • 00:11:24.910 --> 00:11:28.647
  • Project ghostly versions of themselves outside of
  • 00:11:28.647 --> 00:11:31.917
  • Their physical bodies and torment someone
  • 00:11:31.917 --> 00:11:34.853
  • Even in their sleep.
  • 00:11:34.853 --> 00:11:36.955
  • So in review, moles and birthmarks,
  • 00:11:36.955 --> 00:11:40.058
  • Owning weird dolls, inability to remember
  • 00:11:40.058 --> 00:11:42.528
  • Scripture and nightmares are all perfectly good
  • 00:11:42.528 --> 00:11:45.998
  • Reasons to accuse someone of witchcraft
  • 00:11:45.998 --> 00:11:48.066
  • In the court of law.
  • 00:11:48.066 --> 00:11:49.968
  • But my favorite has to be the touch test,
  • 00:11:49.968 --> 00:11:53.105
  • And it worked like this.
  • 00:11:53.105 --> 00:11:54.506
  • If one of the accusers was having a devil fit,
  • 00:11:54.506 --> 00:11:57.843
  • They believed the only thing that could stop it
  • 00:11:57.843 --> 00:12:00.245
  • Was the touch of a witch.
  • 00:12:00.245 --> 00:12:02.848
  • And if that person stopped being hysterical,
  • 00:12:02.848 --> 00:12:06.552
  • Voila, you got yourself a witch.
  • 00:12:06.552 --> 00:12:09.955
  • But if we're being honest,
  • 00:12:09.955 --> 00:12:11.190
  • I think the only thing all of this proves is how
  • 00:12:11.190 --> 00:12:13.625
  • Quickly normal, everyday people can lose their
  • 00:12:13.625 --> 00:12:17.663
  • Minds, especially when they're afraid.
  • 00:12:17.663 --> 00:12:20.866
  • How often do we see crowds or mobs of people
  • 00:12:20.866 --> 00:12:24.269
  • Swept up in a story that isn't 100 percent true?
  • 00:12:24.269 --> 00:12:28.207
  • People grow suspicious of one another,
  • 00:12:28.207 --> 00:12:30.375
  • They fear one another, they accuse each other
  • 00:12:30.375 --> 00:12:32.945
  • Of unthinkable crimes.
  • 00:12:32.945 --> 00:12:35.180
  • 300 years ago, we called it the salem witch
  • 00:12:35.180 --> 00:12:37.683
  • Trials, but today it's just tuesday afternoon
  • 00:12:37.683 --> 00:12:40.752
  • On social media.
  • 00:12:40.752 --> 00:12:42.988
  • The consequences of this type of hysteria
  • 00:12:42.988 --> 00:12:45.324
  • Can actually get pretty serious.
  • 00:12:45.324 --> 00:12:47.593
  • For example, the first case brought before
  • 00:12:47.593 --> 00:12:49.828
  • The court of oyer and terminer was a woman
  • 00:12:49.828 --> 00:12:52.364
  • Named bridget bishop.
  • 00:12:52.364 --> 00:12:54.466
  • Bridget was known for being an unlikable and
  • 00:12:54.466 --> 00:12:57.336
  • Quite argumentative person.
  • 00:12:57.336 --> 00:12:59.605
  • And to make things worse,
  • 00:12:59.605 --> 00:13:00.973
  • She was known to wear inappropriate clothing.
  • 00:13:00.973 --> 00:13:04.142
  • Inappropriate didn't mean exactly what it means today.
  • 00:13:04.142 --> 00:13:07.479
  • The puritans prided themselves on humility,
  • 00:13:07.479 --> 00:13:10.549
  • So an inappropriate dress could have been something
  • 00:13:10.549 --> 00:13:13.418
  • Too rich or fancy.
  • 00:13:13.418 --> 00:13:15.921
  • Clearly a witch, right?
  • 00:13:15.921 --> 00:13:18.490
  • Not so fast.
  • 00:13:18.490 --> 00:13:19.858
  • - and have you committed any acts of witchcraft?
  • 00:13:19.858 --> 00:13:25.797
  • - i am as innocent as the child unborn.
  • 00:13:25.797 --> 00:13:29.902
  • - so no evidence and no admission, but still,
  • 00:13:29.902 --> 00:13:33.972
  • Bridget's accusers would not back down.
  • 00:13:33.972 --> 00:13:36.642
  • - i now pronounce you...
  • 00:13:36.642 --> 00:13:39.678
  • Guilty!
  • 00:13:39.678 --> 00:13:42.214
  • - and so the judge declared her guilty of
  • 00:13:42.214 --> 00:13:44.716
  • Witchcraft and put her to death.
  • 00:13:44.716 --> 00:13:48.287
  • Bridget was hanged at the location known as
  • 00:13:48.287 --> 00:13:50.522
  • Proctor's ledge.
  • 00:13:50.522 --> 00:13:52.591
  • In total, like 200 people were accused of
  • 00:13:52.591 --> 00:13:55.827
  • Witchcraft and subjected to these bizarre trials.
  • 00:13:55.827 --> 00:13:59.731
  • And while they were in jail,
  • 00:13:59.731 --> 00:14:01.033
  • They were treated horribly.
  • 00:14:01.033 --> 00:14:03.068
  • Some people believed that these witches could
  • 00:14:03.068 --> 00:14:06.338
  • Magically escape jail, so they were held in
  • 00:14:06.338 --> 00:14:09.675
  • Dungeons or chained to the wall while
  • 00:14:09.675 --> 00:14:12.077
  • Awaiting their trial.
  • 00:14:12.077 --> 00:14:17.007
  • Awaiting their trial.
  • 00:14:17.007 --> 00:14:19.490
  • - what was really going on in salem?
  • 00:14:20.258 --> 00:14:22.927
  • Was it witchcraft
  • 00:14:22.927 --> 00:14:24.495
  • Or were there other devious motivations?
  • 00:14:24.495 --> 00:14:28.533
  • Probably devious motivations.
  • 00:14:28.533 --> 00:14:30.635
  • In order to answer that question,
  • 00:14:30.635 --> 00:14:31.936
  • I need to sit down with a real salem witch
  • 00:14:31.936 --> 00:14:34.706
  • Trials expert, miss beth crowley.
  • 00:14:34.706 --> 00:14:36.841
  • So help us kind of understand what was
  • 00:14:36.841 --> 00:14:38.543
  • Going on in salem during the trials.
  • 00:14:38.543 --> 00:14:40.812
  • - absolutely. so witch trials were not new.
  • 00:14:40.812 --> 00:14:43.514
  • Witchcraft was not new.
  • 00:14:43.514 --> 00:14:44.983
  • It had been going on for centuries.
  • 00:14:44.983 --> 00:14:46.684
  • And so to have this thought process that
  • 00:14:46.684 --> 00:14:49.354
  • Anything bad that happens to you,
  • 00:14:49.354 --> 00:14:51.522
  • It's because of the devil.
  • 00:14:51.522 --> 00:14:53.257
  • The children die? witchcraft.
  • 00:14:53.257 --> 00:14:55.526
  • - sure. so you said this was not a new idea.
  • 00:14:55.526 --> 00:14:57.895
  • - no.
  • 00:14:57.895 --> 00:14:59.430
  • - talk about where that all started.
  • 00:14:59.430 --> 00:15:01.332
  • The whole idea of witchcraft.
  • 00:15:01.332 --> 00:15:02.533
  • - absolutely. so really it started in 1486, 87.
  • 00:15:02.533 --> 00:15:06.137
  • There was actually a very influential book written
  • 00:15:06.137 --> 00:15:08.773
  • In germany called the malleus maleficarum,
  • 00:15:08.773 --> 00:15:12.710
  • And it actually translates to
  • 00:15:12.710 --> 00:15:14.379
  • The hammer of the witches.
  • 00:15:14.379 --> 00:15:15.880
  • - wow.
  • 00:15:15.880 --> 00:15:17.115
  • - and what it was was a how-to book on how to
  • 00:15:17.115 --> 00:15:20.918
  • Find, how to identify, how to interrogate and
  • 00:15:20.918 --> 00:15:25.423
  • How to exterminate or torture witches.
  • 00:15:25.423 --> 00:15:28.092
  • - that's crazy.
  • 00:15:28.092 --> 00:15:29.761
  • - so it resulted in three centuries of
  • 00:15:29.761 --> 00:15:32.997
  • Witch trials in europe.
  • 00:15:32.997 --> 00:15:35.133
  • - so could the inception of this been a prank gone
  • 00:15:35.133 --> 00:15:38.603
  • Bad, or do you think there was some genuine
  • 00:15:38.603 --> 00:15:40.838
  • Spooky stuff going on?
  • 00:15:40.838 --> 00:15:42.640
  • - so i don't think there was any magic or
  • 00:15:42.640 --> 00:15:44.475
  • Witchcraft going on.
  • 00:15:44.475 --> 00:15:46.310
  • I think that fear can be a really tricky thing.
  • 00:15:46.310 --> 00:15:50.448
  • And one of the newer theories is what's called
  • 00:15:50.448 --> 00:15:52.517
  • Mass conversion disorder, where think about if
  • 00:15:52.517 --> 00:15:55.686
  • Everyone around you is sick,
  • 00:15:55.686 --> 00:15:58.089
  • Then you're afraid you're sick.
  • 00:15:58.089 --> 00:15:59.524
  • And i think we can draw parallels to
  • 00:15:59.524 --> 00:16:01.025
  • The last few years.
  • 00:16:01.025 --> 00:16:02.093
  • - i think we can.
  • 00:16:02.093 --> 00:16:03.127
  • - so all of a sudden someone coughs
  • 00:16:03.127 --> 00:16:04.629
  • And you're like.... - sure.
  • 00:16:04.629 --> 00:16:07.265
  • - and i do think that in this case of the girls,
  • 00:16:07.265 --> 00:16:10.268
  • They really were driven by fear.
  • 00:16:10.268 --> 00:16:12.670
  • But i also think it was an opportunity to be heard.
  • 00:16:12.670 --> 00:16:16.040
  • The 12-year-old ann putnam,
  • 00:16:16.040 --> 00:16:17.809
  • She accused 62 people of witchcraft and
  • 00:16:17.809 --> 00:16:22.280
  • 19 of them were executed.
  • 00:16:22.280 --> 00:16:24.415
  • So imagine you're a young child who's never been
  • 00:16:24.415 --> 00:16:27.218
  • Taken seriously, and then all of a sudden,
  • 00:16:27.218 --> 00:16:29.654
  • Every word you say, they're just captivated.
  • 00:16:29.654 --> 00:16:32.690
  • - that's interesting.
  • 00:16:32.690 --> 00:16:33.958
  • - so i think they ran with that, if it's a whole
  • 00:16:33.958 --> 00:16:36.394
  • Combination. were they really hallucinating?
  • 00:16:36.394 --> 00:16:40.431
  • I'm not sure.
  • 00:16:40.431 --> 00:16:41.632
  • - so who do you think were the real villains
  • 00:16:41.632 --> 00:16:43.167
  • In the story?
  • 00:16:43.167 --> 00:16:44.735
  • - the real villains, i would say these adults
  • 00:16:44.735 --> 00:16:47.105
  • That stood by and did nothing,
  • 00:16:47.105 --> 00:16:50.007
  • But they were afraid.
  • 00:16:50.007 --> 00:16:51.109
  • If you say something, you're going to be
  • 00:16:51.109 --> 00:16:52.710
  • Accused of witchcraft.
  • 00:16:52.710 --> 00:16:54.212
  • And it was a game of really just
  • 00:16:54.212 --> 00:16:55.847
  • Protecting yourself.
  • 00:16:55.847 --> 00:16:57.115
  • And by the end of it, there were over
  • 00:16:57.115 --> 00:16:58.382
  • 250 arrests and 55 people confessed to witchcraft.
  • 00:16:58.382 --> 00:17:03.955
  • None of those people were executed.
  • 00:17:03.955 --> 00:17:06.424
  • Not a single person who confessed to
  • 00:17:06.424 --> 00:17:08.392
  • Witchcraft was executed.
  • 00:17:08.392 --> 00:17:09.994
  • - that's crazy.
  • 00:17:09.994 --> 00:17:11.129
  • - they lost their property, they stayed in jail
  • 00:17:11.129 --> 00:17:12.230
  • Until the end, but if you didn't confess,
  • 00:17:12.230 --> 00:17:15.299
  • That's when you went to your trial.
  • 00:17:15.299 --> 00:17:16.934
  • - interesting.
  • 00:17:16.934 --> 00:17:18.636
  • - all of the people accused of witchcraft and
  • 00:17:18.636 --> 00:17:21.038
  • Executed were innocent.
  • 00:17:21.038 --> 00:17:22.807
  • These were innocent people.
  • 00:17:22.807 --> 00:17:23.841
  • They were not witches.
  • 00:17:23.841 --> 00:17:25.042
  • The last of the names of the accused was actually
  • 00:17:25.042 --> 00:17:28.613
  • Cleared in the last decade.
  • 00:17:28.613 --> 00:17:30.548
  • - wow. beth, thank you so much.
  • 00:17:30.548 --> 00:17:32.283
  • - thanks for having me.
  • 00:17:32.283 --> 00:17:33.417
  • - yeah, absolutely.
  • 00:17:33.417 --> 00:17:34.485
  • The salem witch trials took place about a
  • 00:17:34.485 --> 00:17:36.587
  • Hundred years before the united states officially
  • 00:17:36.587 --> 00:17:39.123
  • Became a nation, and the whole ordeal only lasted
  • 00:17:39.123 --> 00:17:42.059
  • Like 11 months.
  • 00:17:42.059 --> 00:17:43.995
  • So why is this strange, spooky tale still so
  • 00:17:43.995 --> 00:17:48.032
  • Fascinating to us today?
  • 00:17:48.032 --> 00:17:49.800
  • I think it's because the witch trials are such
  • 00:17:49.800 --> 00:17:52.336
  • An anomaly in our nation's history.
  • 00:17:52.336 --> 00:17:54.772
  • You see, this was not an american idea.
  • 00:17:54.772 --> 00:17:58.709
  • Over in europe, between the years of 1450 and
  • 00:17:58.709 --> 00:18:01.679
  • 1750, about 50,000 people were executed for
  • 00:18:01.679 --> 00:18:06.117
  • Witchcraft and sorcery.
  • 00:18:06.117 --> 00:18:07.885
  • They were hanged, beheaded and even burned alive.
  • 00:18:07.885 --> 00:18:11.722
  • Here in salem, 19 people died by hanging.
  • 00:18:11.722 --> 00:18:14.725
  • One poor guy, giles corey,
  • 00:18:14.725 --> 00:18:17.128
  • Remains silent in the face of his accusers and
  • 00:18:17.128 --> 00:18:19.797
  • Was crushed to death.
  • 00:18:19.797 --> 00:18:22.433
  • In total, 25 lives were taken,
  • 00:18:22.433 --> 00:18:24.802
  • Which is 25 too many.
  • 00:18:24.802 --> 00:18:27.438
  • But who knows how far and wide this witch-crazed
  • 00:18:27.438 --> 00:18:31.275
  • Madness would've swept through the new world if
  • 00:18:31.275 --> 00:18:33.811
  • It hadn't been for some feisty preachers who
  • 00:18:33.811 --> 00:18:36.480
  • Decided to intervene.
  • 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:38.516
  • Meet john proctor.
  • 00:18:38.516 --> 00:18:40.785
  • John proctor was a part of a vocal minority who
  • 00:18:40.785 --> 00:18:43.521
  • Believed that the witch trials were just a bunch
  • 00:18:43.521 --> 00:18:46.123
  • Of hocus pocus nonsense.
  • 00:18:46.123 --> 00:18:48.192
  • And his opinion got him in big trouble,
  • 00:18:48.192 --> 00:18:50.995
  • As in double, double toil and trouble.
  • 00:18:50.995 --> 00:18:53.931
  • And so john proctor was arrested.
  • 00:18:53.931 --> 00:18:57.301
  • While in prison, john sends a letter to the
  • 00:18:57.301 --> 00:18:59.537
  • Clergy here in boston begging for help.
  • 00:18:59.537 --> 00:19:02.907
  • - help!
  • 00:19:02.907 --> 00:19:04.575
  • - unfortunately, by the time anyone outside
  • 00:19:04.575 --> 00:19:07.478
  • Of salem really got involved,
  • 00:19:07.478 --> 00:19:09.847
  • John proctor and five of his family members had
  • 00:19:09.847 --> 00:19:12.683
  • Already been executed.
  • 00:19:12.683 --> 00:19:14.719
  • Only his pregnant wife was spared.
  • 00:19:14.719 --> 00:19:22.009
  • Only his pregnant wife was spared.
  • 00:19:22.009 --> 00:19:24.498
  • - salem was gripped with fear; fear of the devil,
  • 00:19:25.432 --> 00:19:29.536
  • Fear of each other, fear of being accused of
  • 00:19:29.536 --> 00:19:32.973
  • Witchcraft, and no one was safe.
  • 00:19:32.973 --> 00:19:35.442
  • Even rebecca nurse, a beloved member of the
  • 00:19:35.442 --> 00:19:38.412
  • Community, was accused of witchcraft.
  • 00:19:38.412 --> 00:19:41.115
  • - witch!
  • 00:19:41.115 --> 00:19:43.684
  • - [crowd] witch!
  • 00:19:43.684 --> 00:19:45.286
  • - at this point, many people in town started
  • 00:19:45.286 --> 00:19:47.855
  • Growing suspicious of social media-- i mean,
  • 00:19:47.855 --> 00:19:50.724
  • The witch hunters of course.
  • 00:19:50.724 --> 00:19:53.460
  • And so the people signed a petition pleading
  • 00:19:53.460 --> 00:19:56.030
  • For her release.
  • 00:19:56.030 --> 00:19:57.431
  • These witch trials had gone too far.
  • 00:19:57.431 --> 00:20:01.669
  • - innocent!
  • 00:20:01.669 --> 00:20:03.971
  • Innocent!
  • 00:20:04.271 --> 00:20:05.572
  • - finally a glimmer of hope.
  • 00:20:05.572 --> 00:20:07.975
  • But the witch hunters were not about to
  • 00:20:07.975 --> 00:20:10.577
  • Release their stranglehold of power that
  • 00:20:10.577 --> 00:20:13.314
  • They had over the town.
  • 00:20:13.314 --> 00:20:15.449
  • - guilty!
  • 00:20:15.449 --> 00:20:16.717
  • Guilty!
  • 00:20:16.717 --> 00:20:18.752
  • - this horror story reached its peak in
  • 00:20:18.752 --> 00:20:20.521
  • September of 1692, when seven women and one man
  • 00:20:20.521 --> 00:20:24.491
  • Were hanged for witchcraft on a single day.
  • 00:20:24.491 --> 00:20:27.761
  • Little by little, the townsfolk began turning
  • 00:20:27.761 --> 00:20:29.963
  • Their suspicions away from the quote,
  • 00:20:29.963 --> 00:20:32.299
  • Witches and toward the witch hunters.
  • 00:20:32.299 --> 00:20:35.502
  • Now, a man named increase mather was a
  • 00:20:35.502 --> 00:20:37.771
  • New england puritan in the massachusetts bay colony.
  • 00:20:37.771 --> 00:20:41.241
  • He was also the president of harvard college,
  • 00:20:41.241 --> 00:20:43.777
  • Generally a pretty well-respected dude,
  • 00:20:43.777 --> 00:20:46.013
  • And he had a stern word of caution for
  • 00:20:46.013 --> 00:20:48.349
  • These witchy trials.
  • 00:20:48.349 --> 00:20:50.951
  • - it were better that 10 suspected witches
  • 00:20:50.951 --> 00:20:53.520
  • Should escape, then that one innocent person
  • 00:20:53.520 --> 00:20:56.390
  • Should be condemned.
  • 00:20:56.390 --> 00:20:58.959
  • - finally, on october 29th,
  • 00:20:58.959 --> 00:21:01.462
  • The governor of massachusetts dissolved
  • 00:21:01.462 --> 00:21:03.931
  • The court of oyer and terminer,
  • 00:21:03.931 --> 00:21:05.999
  • And the witch hunters were losing their power.
  • 00:21:05.999 --> 00:21:09.470
  • Now the accused still had to remain in jail
  • 00:21:09.470 --> 00:21:12.206
  • Until a new court was established.
  • 00:21:12.206 --> 00:21:14.508
  • And even still, three more people were
  • 00:21:14.508 --> 00:21:16.910
  • Accused of witchcraft.
  • 00:21:16.910 --> 00:21:18.746
  • But the good governor stepped in once again
  • 00:21:18.746 --> 00:21:21.215
  • And reprieved the remaining convictions.
  • 00:21:21.215 --> 00:21:23.550
  • And with that, the jails started to slowly empty.
  • 00:21:23.550 --> 00:21:26.720
  • The salem witch trials were finally canceled.
  • 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:29.490
  • In response, a day of repentance and prayer was
  • 00:21:29.490 --> 00:21:32.159
  • Declared for salem and the surrounding communities.
  • 00:21:32.159 --> 00:21:34.862
  • Today, social media gives the mob more power than
  • 00:21:34.862 --> 00:21:39.633
  • Ever. why try to understand someone
  • 00:21:39.633 --> 00:21:42.269
  • Else's perspective or respectfully debate
  • 00:21:42.269 --> 00:21:45.205
  • Someone when it's much easier to throw out an
  • 00:21:45.205 --> 00:21:47.941
  • Accusation or call someone a name.
  • 00:21:47.941 --> 00:21:51.645
  • Whatever really happened, it's important that
  • 00:21:51.645 --> 00:21:53.647
  • We learn from this.
  • 00:21:53.647 --> 00:21:55.249
  • Kids, when you see an angry mob start to
  • 00:21:55.249 --> 00:21:57.651
  • Gather, whether it's on social media or
  • 00:21:57.651 --> 00:21:59.853
  • In the city streets, check the facts.
  • 00:21:59.853 --> 00:22:02.756
  • Also, check your heart and check in
  • 00:22:02.756 --> 00:22:05.092
  • With the good book.
  • 00:22:05.092 --> 00:22:06.360
  • There's always something you can pull from it.
  • 00:22:06.360 --> 00:22:09.196
  • In the end, whatever's going on might just be
  • 00:22:09.196 --> 00:22:11.365
  • A little fungus or a sinister power grab
  • 00:22:11.365 --> 00:22:14.334
  • From a greedy politician.
  • 00:22:14.334 --> 00:22:16.703
  • Or, well, i guess it could be a witch.
  • 00:22:16.703 --> 00:22:20.741
  • You never know.
  • 00:22:20.741 --> 00:22:22.242
  • We'll see you next time.
  • 00:22:22.242 --> 00:22:22.242