Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
February 16, 2025

Could the Salem Witch Trials have been prevented?

If you still do not realize the power of communication, consider the Salem Witch Trials.

One person had the power to stop the trials all along. How do we know? Because Governor Phips ended them after his wife was accused. We do not know if he suddenly opened his eyes regarding what he allowed or if the lies were so out of control that accusations were made against his wife. The allegations struck people from all over the colony, with a population of over 44,000 in Massachusetts. The population of Salem Village was only 400, from where the heinous plague of lies spawned.

The original accusation began there but did not end there. Courageous individuals tried to speak out against the liars but discovered they had no power when they became targets. They could not encourage others to take a stand with them. That brings us back to two individuals who did possess the ability.

It began with two girls in Reverend Samuel Parris's household pointing their lying fingers at others. What if Parris lived what he preached and honored the commandment about bearing false witness instead of using the attention the girls were receiving for himself?

Before Parris, there was Reverend George Burroughs. Long before the trials began, he was sent to the village in 1680. He tried to preach to parishioners to follow what Jesus taught about loving their neighbors. Tragic events of his wife Hannah dying after the birth of their fourth child, followed by the hardships his family suffered from not being paid, he was too beaten down to remain in Salem. He left Salem Village behind him in 1683. 

Samuel Parris was part of the group that forced Reverend Burroughs to be brought back to Salem Village to face charges of witchcraft in 1692. He was among the nineteen who were hung on Proctor's Ledge.

What if he did not give up? What if he noticed how many people in his congregation listened to and acted upon his sermons? Would they have realized how much power they had to do the right thing collectively? Sixty-two people collectively had the power to charge 300 because they claimed to be afflicted by them. They were locked up in dungeons and tortured, and twenty among them were murdered. What if the rest of the 44,000 joined together to take a stand?

What does what happened in Salem have to do with PTSD? Imagine being one of the accused and held in the dungeon, being tortured and fearing you may be the next to die for lies. Imagine finally being released and seeing those who falsely accused you. Imagine looking at others in your community, knowing they did nothing to spare you or others. Imagine being one of the family members who endured the trauma of their family member being executed or those who were being held in the dungeons. Then, imagine having to find the money to pay for the use of those dungeons and the shackles before they could be released.

The devil gave the accusers and judges the power to cause the carnage. The good people were too afraid to speak. After the trials ended and hardships continued, the leaders found something else to blame it on. They blamed God's wrath and called for a day of fasting and prayers to ask Him to forgive them. There always had to be someone to blame, but they never blamed themselves. Samuel Parris was forced out of his job, but he never really apologized for what he started. He simply claimed, "I may have been mistaken."