tituba

Tituba was an enslaved woman in Salem Village, Massachusetts, in the early 1690s. She was reportedly of Barbadian origin and of African descent, owned by Reverend Samuel Parris, and living in his household along with his daughter Elizabeth and his niece Abigail Williams.

During the Salem witch trials of 1692, Tituba became one of the first people accused of witchcraft. Under interrogation, she confessed to practicing witchcraft and to having made a pact with the Devil. Her confession, which described spirits and the devil and taught others to conjure, helped incite fear and led to further accusations, including from the girls in Salem who claimed to be tormented by witches.

Accounts of Tituba's testimony vary; it is widely believed that her confession was coerced under pressure and may have included elements drawn from Caribbean folk beliefs. Because much of the information comes from trial records produced under duress, historians debate the reliability of her statements and the details of her alleged activities.

Tituba's fate after the initial trials is uncertain. Some records indicate she remained in the Parris household for a time, while later sources provide conflicting accounts about her life or death and her eventual relocation away from Salem.

Tituba's role is often discussed in studies of the Salem witch trials as an example of the intersection of race, slavery, gender, and colonial fear, illustrating how enslaved individuals' experiences and testimony shaped early colonial legal proceedings and popular culture.