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Famous American Trials

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Famous American Trials

AndraLeigh Brown
Date Due 2/24/14 The Salem Witch Trials

The salem witch trials of 1692 were a very dark timw in American history. More than 200 people were accused of witchcraft practice and over 19 people were killed during this chaos. Salem, Massachusetts wasn’t alone in the witch hunt. A wave of trials swept Europe for nearly 300 years. This hysteria first began in January of 1692 when a group of young girls fell ill after playing a fortune telling game. They began behaving strangely. They later came known as the “afflicted girls”. The first of the girls to began experiencing symptoms was Betty Parris, fallowed by Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam, Mary Lewis. Shortly after Elizabeth Hubbard, Susannah Sheldon, Mary Warren and Elizabeth Booth all started having the same symptoms. In February Samuel Parris called for a doctor to exam the girls. The doctor was unable ti find anything wrong with the girls and suggested they may be bewitched. Two of the girls named the women they thought were bewitching them. These women were Sarah Good, Sarah Osburn and a slave woman named Tituba who worked for the Parris family. On March 1st these three women were arrested and examined. During this Tituba confessed that her and the other two women had been approached by Satan and they all agreed to do his bidding as witches. In April and May more Men and women were accused this includes (Aprils list) Sarah Cloyce, Elizabeth Peroctor, John Proctor, Giles Corey, Abigail Hobbs, Deliverance Hobbs, William Hobbs, Mary Warren, Bridget Bishop, Sarah Wildes, Nehemiah Abbott Jr., Mary Eastey, Edward Bishop, Sarah Bishop, mary English, Susannah Martin, Dorcas Hoar and Sarah Morey.
By May there were the numbers of the accused surged to over 30 people. In June Bridget Bishop was the first person to be brought to trial and hanged. In the end there were twenty people found guilty and executed. One person refused to enter a plea and was tortured to death. Eleven people were found guilty and pardoned. Four people died in prison. Ten people escaped from prison and there were fifteen people that it was never indicted what happened.

The Burr Conspiracy

In 1807 Aaron Burr was brought to trial on charges of conspiracy and high misdemeanor. This was for leading a military against Spanish territory and for trying to separate territories from the United States. He was acquitted on the treason charge and eventually had his misdemeanor revoked. This conspiracy scandal left Burr’s political career in ruins. Burr spent 4 years fallowing his trial traveling throughout Europe. Unsuccessfully attempting to garner support for revolutionizing Mexico and to free the Spanish colonies.

Sacco-Vanzetti Case

The trial began in south Dedham, Massachusetts on May 31st 1921. Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti both Italian immigrants were tried for the murders of Alessandro Berardelli and Frederick A. Parmenter. During the trial 169 witnesses testified about 226 items of evidence. On july 14th 1921 the jury came back with a guilty verdict. Each defendant was found guilty of first degree murder. A jailhouse confession of another criminal in the Braintree murders was thrown out. Sacco and Vanzettii were electrocuted at Charlestown state prison on August 23, 1927

John Scopes “monkey” Trial

The scopes “monkey trial” was one of the most famous battles in history of between evolution and creationism. In 1925 Dayton, Tennessee, schoolteacher john scopes was taken to court for teaching evolution. It had earlier been banned by the state. More than 1000 people showed up for the first day of the trial on July 10, 1925. The town was decked out in banners and had side shows that included chimpanzees The trial was presided over by Judge John T. Raulston, a known staunch Christian conservative who started the trial with a prayer. The jury also seemed stacked against Mr. Scopes, as all 12 jurors were church-going conservative middle aged farmers. The prosecution's opening statement asked the jury to remember the story of Creation in the book of Genesis in the Bible. The trial lasted a total of 11 days. It included long winded speeches. There were witness and expert on the Bible. John Scopes was found guilty and fined $100. The Tennessee Supreme Court later overturned the ruling on a technicality

Rosenberg Trial 1951

The trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg begins in New York Southern District federal court. Judge Irving R. Kaufman presides over the espionage prosecution of the couple accused of selling nuclear secrets to the Russians (treason could not be charged because the United States was not at war with the Soviet Union). The Rosenbergs, and co-defendant, Morton Sobell, were defended by the father and son team of Emanuel and Alexander Bloch. The prosecution includes the infamous Roy Cohn, best known for his association with Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Charles Manson Trial 1970-71

In Los Angeles, California, cult leader Charles Manson is convicted, along with followers Susan Atkins, Leslie Van Houten, and Patricia Krenwinkle, of the brutal 1969 murders of actress Sharon Tate and six others.
In 1967, Manson, a lifetime criminal, was released from a federal penitentiary in Washington State and traveled to San Francisco, where he attracted a following among rebellious young women with troubled emotional lives. Manson established a cult based on his concept of "Helter Skelter"--an apocalyptic philosophy predicting that out of an imminent racial war in America would emerge five ruling angels: Manson, who would take on the role of Jesus Christ, and the four members of the Beatles. Manson convinced his followers that it would be necessary to murder celebrities in order to attraot home and friends were staying with the pregnant Tate.) During the next few hours, they engaged in a murderous rampage that left five dead, including a very pregnant Sharon Tate, three of her friends, and an 18-year-old man who was visiting the caretaker of the estate. The next night, Manson followers murdered Leno and Rosemary LA Bianca in their home in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles; this time, Manson went along to make sure the killings were carried out correctly. The cases went unsolved for over a year before the Los Angeles Police Department discovered the Manson connection. Various members of his cult confessed, and Manson and five others were indicted on charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
In January 1972, Manson and three others were found guilty, and on March 29 all four were sentenced to death. The trial of another defendant, Charles "Tex" Watson, was delayed by extradition proceedings, but he was likewise found guilty and sentenced to death. In 1972, the California Supreme Court abolished the death penalty in California, and Manson and his followers' death sentences were reduced to life imprisonment.

Amistad Trials 1839-40

The defendants in this were fifty-three illegally purchased African slaves who took over the ship and where put in prison a little later. They put on trial in Hartford and were defend by John Quincy Adams.

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