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Eighth graders took up the reason for Elizabeth Johnson, the final accused witch of the Salem witch trials
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Elizabeth Johnson Jr. was 22 when she grew to become a scapegoat through the Salem witch trials of 1692.
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She was sentenced to hold, however then-Gov. William Phips finally threw out her punishment. The mass spiritual hysteria that led to twenty executions had began to abate, however Johnson’s identify was solely formally cleared on Thursday — a mere 329 years later.
Captivated by her story, a grade eight civics class at North Andover Center College in Massachussets took up Johnson’s trigger and regarded up legislative avenues to absolve her wrongful conviction.
“They spent a lot of the yr engaged on getting this set for the legislature — really writing a invoice, writing letters to legislators, creating displays, doing all of the analysis, wanting on the precise testimony of Elizabeth Johnson, studying extra in regards to the Salem witch trials,” their instructor Carrie LaPierre, informed Boston Globe.
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“It grew to become fairly in depth for these youngsters.”
The scholars despatched their findings to state Senator Diana DiZoglio, a Democrat from Methuen. The laws she launched was included in a finances invoice and permitted.
“We’ll by no means have the ability to change what occurred to victims like Elizabeth however on the very least can set the file straight,” DiZoglio mentioned.
LaPierre mentioned the trouble sought to advocate for the deprived:
“Passing this laws shall be extremely impactful on their understanding of how essential it’s to face up for individuals who can not advocate for themselves and the way sturdy of a voice they really have.”
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Within the centuries for the reason that trials, those that had been convicted or put to demise had been pardoned. Johnson is the final accused witch to have her identify cleared, based on Witches of Massachusetts Bay, a bunch devoted to preserving the historical past of seventeenth century witch hunts.
Not a lot is understood about Johnson, save that she lived in an space now a part of North Andover and was by no means married nor had kids.
Twenty individuals from Salem and surrounding cities had been killed and a whole lot of others had been accused throughout a Puritanical upheaval infected by superstition and paranoia. A whole neighborhood grew to become an notorious and lasting instance of the risks of fanaticism. Amid the keenness, one man was crushed to demise by rocks and different nineteen had been hanged.
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