Women Weren’t the Only Victims of the Salem Witch Trials
Women Weren’t the Only Victims of the Salem Witch Trials GEORGE BURROUGHS RECITING THE LORD’S PRAYER BEFORE HIS EXECUTION AT WITCHES HILL IN SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS. (CREDIT: CLASSIC IMAGE/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO) John Proctor sat in the courtroom, watching his pregnant wife, Elizabeth on the stand. Paranoia was sweeping Salem, and Elizabeth was being examined by a local judge on suspicion of witchcraft. Watching his wife withstand the heated examination was bad enough, but suddenly the tenor of the questions changed. Slowly, John realized that the questions the judge fired at his wife were more about his behavior than hers. Proctor had spoken out vehemently against the trials—he thought the accusers were liars and had even beaten one of his servants for displaying what the town interpreted as signs of witchcraft. It was just a matter of time before the 60-year-old merchant found himself in the crosshairs of Salem’s paranoia. For most, the story of the Salem Witch Trials is one of wome...