It took over three centuries, but Salem’s last witch was finally pardoned
It was more than three centuries before the last witch of Salem was finally pardoned. This well-known Massachusetts city officially exonerated 22-year-old Elizabeth Johnson, who was convicted of witchcraft in 1693 and sentenced to death by hanging at the culmination of the famous trial that inspired many television series and their film spin-offs.
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Saved to the hilt by the first royal governor of that American state, she had applied for rehabilitation, but the file had been denied in 1712. It was a class of college students from North Andover who became passionate about this affair and set about proving Elizabeth Johnson’s innocence. A research project that stretched over many months. “You have spent most of the year working, drafting a bill, writing letters to elected officials, compiling an extensive dossier, verifying the actual testimony of Elizabeth Johnson, and learning about the Salem witch trials, explained Carrie LaPierre, one of her teachers. Collective paranoia, introduction of hallucinogens without their knowledge (contamination from barley and rye that grew all over the city), conspiracy, mysticism, puritanism taken to excess, commercial rivalries, sectarian currents initiated by Pastor Samuel Parris… so many theses developed in an attempt to understand this process that led to 300 convictions and 20 executions.
Reverend Samuel Parris (1653–1720) Wikimedia Commons
The findings were sent to the state senator, who linked the success of her research to the fight for women’s equality that women are leading today. “While we have come a long way since the horrors of the witch trials, too often today women have their rights questioned and their concerns dismissed,” said Democrat Diana DiZoglio. Declassified to history, we don’t know what became of Elizabeth Johnson. Except that she never had children and never married…
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