salem witch trial?

Question

what happened to the four afflicated girls who accused everyone in town of witch craft when the trials ended...?

Answer 1

Scholars have noted potentially telling differences between the accused and the accusers in Salem. Most of the accused lived to the south of, and were generally better off financially, than most of the accusers. In a number of cases, accusing families stood to gain property from the convictions of accused witches. Also, the accused and the accusers generally took opposite sides in a congregational schism that had split the Salem community before the outbreak of hysteria. While many of the accused witches supported former minister George Burroughs, the families that included the accusers had--for the most part--played leading roles in forcing Burroughs to leave Salem. The conclusion that many scholars draw from these patterns is that property disputes and congregational feuds played a major role in determining who lived, and who died, in 1692.

Answer 2

To the best of my knowledge, nothing.

I've had an occasion to examine some interesting scholarship on the subject, and it would seem as though the accusations were based along socioeconomic relations in the community.

The hysteria these girls generated merely provided the impetus for social outrage to be displayed, so it would make some sense that once it was realized they were making things up... that people would just let it drop and sweep it under the rug.

Answer 3

Sadly...nothing. They're were a bunch of hysterical pre-teens that found they garned the attention of an entire community of pagan beliving adults. Of course this made the Witch Hunter General a political force to be reckoned with and gave him the right to bring in anyone these rotten little girls pointed their fingers at. Their falling into "convulsions' and screaming, moaning, hissing and shouting under the claim that the person in the docket was doing this to them sent many an innocent person to the gallows or in one case..a 73 year old man pressed to death under a cider press being weighted with large stones.

Answer 4

I know the 'ringleader' Abigail was rumored to have ended up in Boston as a prositute, but I don't think there is any credible evidence to suggest that or any other conclusion for her. As for her, they just don't know, unless something has come up that I have yet to read.

Answer 5

Nothing!