The Salem Panic Shows How Easily a Society Can Unravel

The death machine only stopped when it threatened the government. Through the spring and summer of 1692, the accusations spread wider and wider, climbing the social ladder. Then, the accusers went too far. They began naming unimpeachable people, including the wife of Governor William Phips. Whether that specific rumor is true or not, the governor had seen enough. In October 1692, Phips ordered a halt to the proceedings of the Court of Oyer and Terminer. He recognized that the court was relying on “spectral evidence,” which he now considered inadmissible. It remains a sad lesson: the powerful often only intervene when a crisis touches them personally.