Different life- new experience- more challenges. These are the words that can describe my life in US. Before I came here I knew that Salem was going to be the first place where I was going to spend most of my time. Salem State University was the reason why . The only information that I had for Salem like a city, was the school. At the beginning, Salem was my first challenge. Was the first time that I was there and everything was strange. New place, different language, "strange" people and new history. Everything that has the adjective "new" is a challenge for me and for this reason in my first semester I decided to take Discover Salem as one of my classes. we travelled a lot during all semester and we learnt a lot about Salem. One of the most interesting part for me was the history that we learnt about Salem witchcraft. I have never heard this kind of histories in all countries that I have visit. This is the reason why I decided to present this topic in my final presentation, especially the history related to the life of one of the witches( Rebecca Nurse)who was killed during the witch trial. The witchcraft trial is a point in Salem history. For some people Salem is know only from this history.
Salem witch trial happened during February 1692 and May 1693 and it consisted in death punishment for 20 people. One of this people was Rebecca Nurse. She was born on February 21, 1621. Her husband was Francis Nurse with whom she was married in 1644. From this marriage she had eight children, four girls and four boys. They all together used to live in a small house where Rebecca had to share her room with her children. The house was believed that was built around 1678. Itlean -to with kitchen was added around 1720, an additional extension in 1850, and a kitchen added in the 1900s. Today the house is protected by an easement held by its Stewardship Easement Program. It consists of two rooms on the ground floor, two rooms above, and a central chimney. Her witch trial begun when she was 71 years old. On March 23, 1692 she was arrested because of the accusations made by Eduard and John Putnam. Upon hearing of the accusations the frail 71-year-old Nurse, often described as an invalid, said, "I am innocent as the child unborn, but surely, what sin hath God found out in me unrepented of, that He should lay such an affliction on me in my old age." There was a public outcry over the accusations made against her, as she was considered to be of very pious character. Thirty-nine of the most prominent members of the community signed a petition on Nurse's behalf. At age 71, she was one of the oldest accused. Her ordeal is often credited as the impetus for a shift in the town's opinion about the purpose of the witch trials.
Her trial began on June 30, 1692. In accordance with the procedures at the time, Mrs. Nurse, like others accused of witchcraft, represented herself since she was not allowed to have a lawyer represent her. By dint of her respectability, many members of the community testified on her behalf including her family members. However the young Ann Putnam Jr. and the other children would break into fits and claim Nurse was tormenting them. Such so-called "spectral evidence" was allowed into the trial to show that Satan was afflicting others in the community at the behest of the accused. In response to their outbursts Nurse stated, "I have got nobody to look to but God." Many of the other afflicted girls were hesitant to accuse Nurse.
In the end, the jury ruled Nurse not guilty. Due to public outcry and renewed fits and spasms by the girls, the jury asked the magistrate that the verdict be reconsidered. The jury changed their verdict, sentencing Nurse to death on July 19, 1692
After Rebecca Nurse was hanged, her body was buried in a shallow grave near the gallows along with other convicted witches, who were consider unfit for a Christian burial. Because she was innocent, Ann Putnam Jr., publicly apologized to the Nurse family for accusing innocent people. In 1711 government compensated the Nurse family for Rebecca's wrongful death and in July 1885 her descendants erected a tall granite memorial over her grave in what is now called the Rebecca Nurse Homestead cemetery in Danvers .