A frightened village, a court, and a panic that no one could stop.
Want more detail? Read this lesson at B2/C1 level →
Before we read, let's learn the important words. Match each word (1–8) to its meaning (A–H). Say your answers out loud — "I think 1 is D" — then check.
1 = D (a witch) · 2 = C (to accuse) · 3 = F (a confession) · 4 = A (evidence)
5 = B (fear) · 6 = H (to blame) · 7 = E (innocent) · 8 = G (to hang)
Read each part. Then try the questions from memory, and talk about the last one.
In the winter of 1692, in a small village called Salem in Massachusetts, two young girls became very strange. Their names were Betty and Abigail. They screamed, they shook, and they said something was hurting them. But no one could see anything.
A doctor came. He could find no illness. So he said the girls were "bewitched" — that a witch was hurting them with magic. The people of Salem were very religious, and they believed the Devil was real. They were also afraid: there had been war, sickness, and cold winters. Fear was already in the air.
The adults asked the girls one big question: "Who is hurting you?" So the girls said names. One of the first was Tituba, a woman who was a slave in the house. People asked her many questions, and in the end she gave a confession. She said there were other witches in the village, too. After that, the people could not stop. If there was one witch, maybe there were many.
1. Why did the doctor say the girls were "bewitched"?
2. Why was Tituba's confession so dangerous for the village?
1. He could not find any illness, so he said a witch was hurting them with magic.
2. She said there were other witches too, so people thought the problem was big. The accusations could not stop at one person.
In the spring of 1692, more and more people were accused. Neighbour accused neighbour. Some people used old fights about land or money to hurt people they did not like. The fear spread very fast.
So the leaders made a special court. The judges were sure that witches were real and dangerous. But the court used very weak evidence. A person could say, "Your spirit came to me at night and hurt me." No one else could see this spirit. But the court believed it. So it was almost impossible to say you were innocent.
There was also a cruel rule. If you said "Yes, I am a witch", and you named other people, they let you live. But if you said "No, I am innocent", you were in great danger. About two hundred people were accused. Here is an important fact: the people were not burned. Many people think this, but it is wrong. In Salem, nineteen people were hanged. One old man, Giles Corey, would not speak in court, so they put heavy stones on him until he died. A few more people died in prison.
1. Why was it almost impossible to say you were innocent?
2. How did the nineteen people die — and why is "burned" wrong?
1. The court used weak evidence. A person could say "your spirit hurt me", and no one else could see it, so you could not prove it was false.
2. They were hanged (with a rope), not burned. Many people think they were burned, but that is a myth. (Giles Corey died under heavy stones, and a few died in prison.)
In the autumn of 1692, people started to doubt the court. Important religious leaders said the "spirit" evidence was too dangerous. They said the Devil could even look like an innocent person. So how could the court be sure?
Then the accusations reached more powerful families. People say someone even accused the governor's own wife. The governor, William Phips, was now worried. He stopped the court from using the "spirit" evidence. He closed the special court. A new court let the other prisoners go free. By May 1693, the trials were over.
Later, Salem was very sorry. The village had killed twenty of its own people on bad evidence. In 1697, one of the judges, Samuel Sewall, said sorry in his church in front of everyone. Years later, in 1706, Ann Putnam — a girl who had accused people — also said sorry. She said she had been wrong. Today, we still talk about Salem. When people are accused on weak evidence and shared fear, we call it a "witch hunt".
1. What finally stopped the trials?
2. How did Salem say sorry later?
1. Religious leaders said the "spirit" evidence was too dangerous, and the accusations reached powerful families. The governor stopped the court and freed the prisoners. The trials ended in May 1693.
2. A judge (Samuel Sewall) said sorry in his church in 1697; the accuser Ann Putnam said sorry in 1706. Later, the names of the dead were cleared.
This story is full of words: people said things and told the court things. When we report what a person said, we often use say or tell.
Write said or told in each gap. Remember: tell needs a person.
1. She that she saw a ghost.
2. She the judge that she was innocent.
3. They the people that Tituba was a witch.
1. said (no person after the verb)
2. told (there is a person: "the judge")
3. told (there is a person: "the people")
Change the words to reported speech. Use said or told, and move the verb back one step.
1. "I am a witch." → She said that she a witch.
2. "I see the Devil." → He said that he the Devil.
3. "You are guilty." → They told her that she guilty.
1. was (am → was)
2. saw (see → saw)
3. was (are → was)
There is a real podcast about the Salem witch trials. It is for native speakers, so it is fast and quite difficult — that is normal! You do not need to understand every word.
From the Noiser podcast network. Hosted by historians, roughly 50 minutes.
Listen on Spotify →Do all three tasks out loud. Use the timer to keep talking.
Tell the story of the Salem witch trials in your own words. Use these steps to help you: two sick girls → Tituba's confession → more and more people accused → the special court and the weak "spirit" evidence → nineteen people hanged (not burned!) → the trials end → Salem says sorry.
Try to use reported speech with say and tell ("she said that…", "they told the court that…"), and some of the key words (witch, accuse, confession, evidence, innocent, hang).
In Salem, fear spread through the whole village very fast. Why does fear spread so quickly in a group? When people are afraid, why do they sometimes blame other people?
We still say "witch hunt" today. Can you think of any time — in history, in the news, or in your own life — when people blamed someone on weak evidence? Tell the story: how did it start, and how did it end?
Not sure what to talk about? Choose one: