TITUBA AND THE⚫️BLACK🧹WITCHES OF SALEM

A doctor brought in to examine Parris' girls, worried that someone was performing witchcraft to punish the minister and his family.

A concerned church member TOLD Tituba to make a witch cake to reveal the identity of the person who was tormenting the girls. Tituba followed the church member’s instructions. She mixed the girls’ urine with rye meal to make a small cake and then fed it to the family dog. When she was finished, the girls revealed that it was Tituba tormenting them. Tituba was now an accused witch. So, Tituba was not arrested, but Samuel punished her anyway. Many years later, she revealed that Samuel beat her for weeks until she confessed to being a witch. These beatings would have dire consequences for the entire community of Salem.

Tituba was interviewed by Samuel and his most trusted advisors. She denied being a witch, and swore that she had done nothing to hurt the girls. Betty and Abigail were too young to be witnesses in a legal case, and Samuel might have suspected that they were lying. So, Tituba was not arrested, but Samuel punished her anyway. Many years later, she revealed that Samuel beat her for weeks until she confessed to being a witch. These beatings would have dire consequences for the entire community of Salem.

On March 1, all three accused witches were questioned by magistrates in the Salem meeting house, where their accusers and all of Salem Village could watch. The accused witches were kept in chains, and the audience was allowed to chime in at any time to share their suspicions about the women. Throughout the questioning, the four accusers kept falling into fits and screaming accusations.

The next day the magistrates interviewed Tituba in her jail cell, where she revealed even more details. She told the magistrates that she had signed the devil’s book with blood, and that the devil had shown her Sarah Good’s and Sarah Osborne’s signatures. She revealed that the book had nine signatures total, implying there were more witches around. She explained that she had flown on sticks with her fellow witches. Finally, she confessed that the witches had held a meeting right in her master’s home, and used their power to keep him from finding out.

Tituba’s testimony indicated that there was a large conspiracy of witches in Salem, and the magistrates believed her because her story remained consistent no matter how many times they interrogated her. They did not know that Samuel had beaten Tituba until she created this story.

After Tituba’s confession, more and more people reported seeing witches and spirits. Their stories lined up perfectly with Tituba’s, probably because they had all heard her confession in the meeting house. Instead of wondering whether people were imagining things, the magistrates accepted this as proof that everything Tituba said was true.

This was sourced by the New-York Historical Society Teen Leaders in collaboration with the Untold project

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