senator in massachusetts to introduce legislation to clear johnson s name. for the record, she was convicted and sentenced to death. her punishment was, eventually, thrown out. but as one of the 8th graders notes, despite the witch trials ending, the superstition remained. quote it s not like after it ended, people didn t believe in witches, anymore. they still thought she was a witch and wouldn t exonerate her. their civics teacher says it is an effort part of a bigger lesson about acceptance. this that is all the time i have for today. i m alicia menendez. i m going to see you back here tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. eastern for more american voices but for now, i hand to over to my colleague, joshua johnson. hello, joshua. as soon as you used the phrase witch hunt, i was like i know the story. i don t know about you but that gives me huge hope for the future. yes. those eighth graders, you can trust them with anything. they were amazing. so, very cool. thank for ending with that stor
nearly 330 years ago in salem, massachusetts, it is exactly what was happening. mass hysteria led to 20 people being killed and hundreds of others being put on trial for supposedly practicing witchcraft. since then, dozens of those convicted have been cleared. for some reason, 22-year-old elizabeth johnson jr. was never exonerated. do not worry. a group of 8th graders are on the case. civics class at north andover middle school, quote, pain stakingly researched johnson and what they would need to do to make sure she was fully pardoned. that research led a state senator in massachusetts to introduce legislation to clear johnson s name. for the record, she was convicted and sentenced to death. her punishment was, eventually, thrown out. but as one of the 8th graders notes, despite the witch trials ending, the superstition remained. quote it s not like after it ended, people didn t believe in witches, anymore. they still thought she was a witch and wouldn t exonerate her. their civics tea