The Women Who Were Called Witches

National Women’s History Month Series: Friday the 13th Edition

Imagine living in a place where a single accusation could cost you your life.

No modern court.
No reliable evidence.
No way to prove you were telling the truth.

All it took was someone pointing a finger and whispering a single word.

Witch.

Once the word was spoken, fear did the rest.

Neighbors began watching one another carefully. A sick child, a failed harvest, a strange dream, or a sudden illness could all become signs that dark forces were at work. Suspicion grew quickly, and in a small community there was nowhere to hide.

The accused were dragged from their homes and taken in for questioning. They were interrogated for hours by local authorities and religious leaders who believed they were confronting the work of the devil.

The questions were relentless.

Who sent you?
Who else serves with you?
Who have you cursed?

Some people confessed under the pressure, hoping it would save their lives.

Others refused.

Those who refused were often condemned.

This is not the plot of a horror story.

It is the history of what happened in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692.

What began with a few frightened accusations quickly grew into one of the most infamous episodes of mass hysteria in American history. Over the course of several months, more than two hundred people were accused of witchcraft.

Twenty were executed.

Many of them were women.

One of the first accused was Tituba, an enslaved woman living in the household of Reverend Samuel Parris. Under intense questioning, she confessed to practicing witchcraft and described visions of dark spirits moving through the village. Her confession helped ignite a wave of panic that spread through Salem.

Soon the accusations multiplied.

One of the first people executed was Bridget Bishop. Bishop had long been considered unconventional. She dressed differently, spoke boldly, and did not always follow the strict expectations placed on women in Puritan society. In June of 1692 she was convicted and hanged.

Even women known for their faith were not safe.

Rebecca Nurse was widely respected in the community and known for her kindness and devotion. Many neighbors initially defended her. But once fear took hold, even a strong reputation could not protect someone from suspicion. She too was convicted and executed.

Another victim was Martha Corey, whose mistake was openly questioning whether the accusations of witchcraft were real. Her skepticism angered the accusers and quickly turned suspicion toward her.

By the time the hysteria ended, the damage was devastating. Families had been torn apart. Communities were left divided and grieving. And many innocent lives had been lost.

Today, Friday the 13th is often treated as a playful superstition about bad luck, curses, and dark forces lurking just out of sight.

But history reminds us that superstition has not always been harmless.

Sometimes fear spreads faster than truth.

Sometimes suspicion replaces reason.

And sometimes ordinary people become convinced they are fighting evil when they are actually destroying their neighbors.

The Salem Witch Trials are remembered today as a warning about what can happen when fear, superstition, and certainty combine.

Because in Salem, the real danger was never witches.

The real danger was a community that became so certain monsters were among them that they stopped seeing the humanity of the women they were killing.

And history has shown us many times since then that the most terrifying words are still the same ones that echoed through Salem in 1692.

“She’s a witch.”