Tituba

Tituba was the first woman to be accused of witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Tituba was an American Indian brought to Barbados to be sold as a slave, a slave owned by Reverend Samuel Parris in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. As she had been known in the town to tell tales of omens, voodoo, and witchcraft from her native folklore, she became the first to be accused along with Sarah Good and Sarah Osborn.

Related Topics:
Witchcraft - Salem Witch Trials - 1692 - Samuel Parris - Salem, Massachusetts - Omens - Voodoo - Sarah Good - Sarah Osborn

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The Witch Trials might have ended with admonishments had it not been for Tituba. Perhaps afraid of being made a scapegoat, Tituba confessed to being a witch and that she and four other witches, including Good and Osborn had flown through the air on their poles. Tituba's confession succeeded in transforming her from a scapegoat to a central figure in the expanding prosecutions. Her confession also served to silence most skeptics of the trial, and Parris, along with other ministers began witch hunting with zeal. She was jailed rather than being hanged.

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She was married to John Indian and is, therefore, referred to as Tituba Indian. After the Witch Trials ended, she was released and relocated. She was then exiled.

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Tituba is the protagonist of the novel I, Tituba: Black Witch of Salem (1982) by Maryse Condé, she also featured prominently in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller.

Related Topics:
Maryse Condé - The Crucible - Arthur Miller

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In the play, Tituba was brought to Salem from Barbados. She was told to know how to conjure up spirits, and had allegedly dabbled in sorcery, witchcraft, and Satanism. Abigail Williams and the other girls tried to use her knowledge when dancing in the woods before the trials began; it was, in fact, their being caught that preceded those events. With the original intention of covering up their own sinful deeds, Tituba was the one to be accused by Abigail, who had in fact drank from a magic cup Tituba made, to kill John Proctor's wife Elizabeth and to bewitch him into loving her. She and the other girls claimed to have seen Tituba "with the Devil."

Related Topics:
Sorcery - Satanism - Abigail Williams - Sinful - Devil

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