Connecticut to exonerate accused witches: A historical move 300 years after ... trends now
Connecticut lawmakers are considering offering posthumous exonerations to women and men killed in the state prior to the infamous Salem witch trials.
Connecticut state Rep. Jane Garibay proposed the exonerations on Tuesday, after receiving letters from eighth- and ninth-generation relatives of the accused witches.
The proposed guidance comes more than 375 years after the 11 Connecticut citizens were killed, and sixth months after final outstanding conviction in the Salem Witchcraft Trials was posthumously nixed.
The executions came decades before the mass hysteria in Massachusetts that saw an additional 19 hanged and one man crushed to death by rocks.
Calls to get the centuries-old convictions tossed in recent months have become more pronounced, as several other states and countries have strived to atone for the wrongful persecutions that transpired during the period.
The 17th century trials - fueled by feelings of superstition, fear of disease and strangers, and other indicators - were not exclusive to Massachusetts, with 11 put to death in Connecticut
'They're talking about how this has followed their families from generation to generation and that they would love for someone just to say, 'Hey, this was wrong,'' State Rep. Garibay said Tuesday of the letters he's received from relatives of the deceased, two of whom had been men and nine women.
'And to me, that's an easy thing to do if it gives people peace,' he added.
Garibay's assertion comes as an increasing amount of residents have called for exonerations for the hundreds slain during 17th-century witch trials - which, contrary to popular belief, were not exclusive to Massachusetts or even America.
As an increasing number of Americans uncover their links to victims thanks to genealogy websites, the calls have become more pronounced, spurring other states and countries to attempt to atone for a history of persecuting people as witches.
Last year, Scotland´s prime minister issued a formal apology to the estimated 4,000 Scots, mostly women, who were accused of witchcraft up until 1736. Of the 4,000, about 2,500 were killed. A Scottish member of parliament last year called for posthumously pardoning them.
Pictured is an original complaint letter dated back to 1669 against Katherine Harrison, who was tried multiple times for witchcraft. The proposed guidance would see 17th-century Connecticut citizens like Harrison pardoned posthumously
In this Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023 photo, a brick memorializing Alice 'Alse' Young is placed in a town Heritage Bricks installation in Windsor, Conn. Young was the first person on record to be executed in the 13 colonies for witchcraft
In 2022, Massachusetts lawmakers formally exonerated Elizabeth Johnson Jr., who was convicted of witchcraft in 1693 and sentenced to death at the height of the Salem Witch Trials. Johnson is believed to be the last accused Salem witch to have her conviction set aside by legislators.
In 2006, former
