Surviving the Salem Witch Trials

2026-02-23

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Eight Survival Strategies in the Salem Witch TrialsWe look at how accused people tried to stay alive during the 1692 Salem witch panic, when witchcraft convictions often led to the gallows. We outline eight strategies that were used to delay or avoid execution—ranging from confession and pregnancy to seeking spiritual reprieves, accusing others, presenting as afflicted, and leaning on petitions and character witnesses. We also discuss why fleeing could be the most effective option, and how timing and luck often mattered more than justice, as m...

Eight Survival Strategies in the Salem Witch Trials

We look at how accused people tried to stay alive during the 1692 Salem witch panic, when witchcraft convictions often led to the gallows. We outline eight strategies that were used to delay or avoid execution—ranging from confession and pregnancy to seeking spiritual reprieves, accusing others, presenting as afflicted, and leaning on petitions and character witnesses. We also discuss why fleeing could be the most effective option, and how timing and luck often mattered more than justice, as many still died by hanging, pressing, or harsh jail conditions.

00:00 Welcome & the brutal reality of 1692 accusations

00:54 Strategy #1: Confess to buy time (and why it worked)

01:59 Strategy #2: “Plead the belly” — pregnancy as a legal delay

02:46 Strategy #3: A minister’s petition for time to repent (Dorcas Hoar)

03:22 Strategy #4: Accuse others first — even your own family

04:13 Strategy #5: Become “afflicted” to avoid being the witch

04:56 Strategies #6–7: Petitions & character witnesses from the community

05:44 Strategy #8: Run away — the most effective way to survive

06:37 Conclusion: Luck, late timing, and the true death toll

⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692

Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt

The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel