How were witches tested and their guilt decided in the Salem Witch Trials?

Answer 1

To ways that people (mostly women) were tested was:

1. A lake would be blest, the the person who was accused would have there hands and ankles tied together then lowered into the lake, if the person floated and lived he/she would be a witch then killed, but if he/she drowned she would be dead then proved that he/she wasn't a witch.

2. The person accused would have to carry a peace of hot coal around the town two times, when finished if the persons hands were burnt then they would be let go, but if they where fine they would kill you.

EDIT:

During the Salem Trials, the accused were not given the benefit of a fair test.

The Touch Test, the afflicted's testimony and the Witch's Teat were the only evidence or tests employed.

The Touch Test, in which the accused would touch the bewitched while in a fit and if the fit ended the agent to cause it had returned to the accused witch by touch, could be rigged because the afflicted could choose to recover if they were faking, which is the most supported theory.

The afflicted could have easily lied.

And the Witch's Teat, a blemish that would not bleed or cause pain is pricked, was ALWAYS fake. The examiners used dull pins.

Answer 2

1.) The town would watch as the accused would recite the Lord's Prayer. If they were truly the devil's servant, they would not be able to say the prayer.

2). If any marks or scars were found on the person's body they were said to be the marks of evil.

Answer 3

Sometimes they would tie the accused witch to a boulder and drop them into water. If they floated, they were a witch and if they sunk they weren't. Of course either way they died.

This is only one of them.

EDIT:

The accused in Salem never underwent the traditional witch tests of Europe. The court would not allow it. The Salem witches were tried by a panel of judges that also served as jury. The evidence and witness testimony, the afflicted's accusations, were brought up and the accused had to defend themselves.

Answer 4

Largely by the presentation of "Spectral evidence" where the accused appeared to the afflicted in a dream and proclaimed their guilt.

Answer 5

They didn't. The traditional witch tests were not employed in Salem. The afflicted girls accused someone and that was the evidence in the trials.

Answer 6

if you have a mole on your back and it does not bleed out they think thats is who they think is a witch or that is how they find out

Answer 7

They happened because the girls claimed to see different people in the town with the Devil and they didn't really test if they were witches.