The idea of witchcraft is one of the many known fallacies of our time. The earliest trials in New England dates as far as 1656 "35 years before the tragedy of the Parris children. On May 14, 1656, a Bostonian widow was tried before a group of magistrates and town representatives on charges concerning witchcraft. After hearing the evidence presented against her, as well as her side of the story, the court came to a conclusion that she was guilty. Governor John Endicott read the punishment as followed, "she was to goe from the barr to the place from whence she came, and from thence to the place of execution, and there to hang till she was dead."" Five weeks later, the woman known as Ann Hibbins was hanged because she was a "witch-. (Karlsen, 1) .
Though the tragedy of the Boston dates way before the Salem trials, it is in England, where witchcraft had been outlawed by the Parliament since 1542. A few years before Hibbins was convicted, more than several hundred people "90% of them women "were hanged under the largest witchcraft outbreak in their time. Many of the women accused had been members under the lower social caste, which is a common stereotype amongst most Englishmen. In addition, New England colonists attained certain traditions and values from England and made assumptions as to what kind of people witches were, what kind of practices they engaged in, and what supernatural powers they possessed. Though these cases present the earliest of witchcraft cases, however, it is in Salem, Massachusetts where the most famous of cases were recorded. The Salem Witch Craft Trials were probably the most repeated and well documented [witchcraft] cases in our history alone. The trials had originated from the Salem village, where 600 inhabitants were divided into two subdivisions: those who wanted to separate from Salem Town, and those who didn't. The Samuel Parris was the local Reverend of Salem Town who lived with his wife, daughter, and niece.
