In Search of History: Salem Witch Trials (1998)
*** (out of 4)
This episode of The History Channel's "In Search of History" takes a look at the Salem Witch Trials, which happened during 1692 and resulted in countless deaths, probably of innocent people. The documentary starts off dealing with the history of witchcraft, how it was originally accepted by Christians as they simply turned their back but then we get to cases where the Roman Catholic church decided it would be best to put witches to death. Several historians are interviewed about how people decided who was witches, the ways to prove it and of course the eventual trials, which just led to mostly innocent people being killed. If you're a fan of the series then you should enjoy this episode. While it's not going to teach experts anything they didn't already know, those with just general knowledge of the events should find this to be a good way to catch up with the basic events. The documentary does a pretty good job at giving on the general idea of what was going on during this periods and how everything got so out of control. As one expert said, the best way for two neighbors to solve a land dispute was for one to charge the other of being a witch. Again, there's nothing ground-breaking here but it's good entertainment.
