"Titularly" Natural Recordings by Native Speakers
Used in a formal or official manner, especially in order to emphasize or make someone's position, status, or responsibility clear.
Tituba was a slave from present-day Barbados, who was brought to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1688. She was one of the first enslaved Africans to be brought to the American colonies. She was a spirit medium and a healer, and was known for her expertise in "obeah," a form of folk magic.<br><br>In 1692, Tituba was one of the first people to be accused of practicing witchcraft in the Salem witch trials. She confessed to practicing witchcraft and named several other women, including Rebecca Nurse and Elizabeth Hubbard, as being involved in the supposed conspiracy.<br><br>Tituba's confession likely led to a significant increase in accusations of witchcraft in Salem, and she played a key role in the early part of the Salem witch trials. Her testimony, which included descriptions of African and Native American spiritual practices, was misunderstood and used as evidence of witchcraft by the colonists.<br><br>There is still some debate among historians about the accuracy of Tituba's confession, with some arguing that she was coerced into making false confessions due to the threat of physical punishment. She was imprisoned for a year and 4 months before she was tried, but she was later released after the witch trials subsided.