The Salem witch Trials was based on a series of hearings and prosecutions of people that were accused of witchcraft in Colonial Massachusetts, back in 1692 between Salem Town and Salem Village. It resulted in the death of 20 people, which were mostly women. The people that were accused of witchcraft were portrayed as worshipers of the devil.i It was admitted that the trial were a mistake and the colony compensated the families of those convicted. Salem village was a town of mostly farmers, and Salem town was a more prosperous city which wealthy merchants lived. The farmers who lived far from prosperity believed worldliness threatened their puritan values. One of the major families to denounce the worldly ways was the Putnam's: an influential force behind witchcraft accusations. Tensions then became worse when Salem village picked Reverend Samuel Parris as their new minister. He also denounced the worldly ways and economic prosperity of Salem town. He thought of it as the influence of the devil. In January of 1692, the daughter and niece of Reverend Samuel Parris of Salem Village became really sick. She kicked, kicked and and flipped her body in strange positions. When she failed to get well, the village doctor, William Griggs, was called in. His diagnosis of bewitchment put into motion; the forces that would result in the death by hanging of nineteen men and women. In addition, one man was crushed to death; seven others died in prison, and the lives of many were changedii. The reverend began to practice fasting to counter act the witchcraft but the girl's strange behavior continued, stomping and starving for weeks. Some believed that the girl's fit was triggered by poison on rye and not by invisible witches alone. That's because one moment she would be well behave then the next moment she would go into a fit. This would happen somewhat systematically between a few girls. It would happen when someone came to see them. That lead people