Full Version: The Witch Hunts of Salemtown 1692
On June 10, 1692 Bridget Bishop was executed for witchcraft and by September 22, 20 people had been put to death and over a hundred more imprisoned. The madness didn’t stop until the wife of the governor overseeing the trials was accused. Subsequently the court prosecuting witchcraft cases was dismissed. On January 14, 1697, a day of fasting and repentance was set aside in remorse for the travesty. At that time many of the men responsible confessed their error and guilt. In 1711 Massachusetts paid 600 pounds in restitution for the sufferings inflicted during the summer of 1692.
In 1700 Robert Calef published a book about the witchunts of Salemtown. The trials and subsequent executions he said were a result of delusions and “envy, hatred, pride, cruelty, and malice”. In vivid satirical style the crowd is pictured as a bloody throng, the leaders as wolves among sheep. He insinuates that the ones who plead guilty were cowards. The countryside starting from Salemtown he paints as littered with the mangled remains of people victimized in a tragic infamous rampage. To my knowledge no one has successfully contradicted him except Cotton Mather who called it slander. The only thing in the way of a defense was based on interpretation of dreams. Otherwise known as ‘spectral analysis’.
Question for debate:
What caused the witch hunts of Salemtown in the summer of 1692.
In 1700 Robert Calef published a book about the witchunts of Salemtown. The trials and subsequent executions he said were a result of delusions and “envy, hatred, pride, cruelty, and malice”. In vivid satirical style the crowd is pictured as a bloody throng, the leaders as wolves among sheep. He insinuates that the ones who plead guilty were cowards. The countryside starting from Salemtown he paints as littered with the mangled remains of people victimized in a tragic infamous rampage. To my knowledge no one has successfully contradicted him except Cotton Mather who called it slander. The only thing in the way of a defense was based on interpretation of dreams. Otherwise known as ‘spectral analysis’.
Question for debate:
What caused the witch hunts of Salemtown in the summer of 1692.
This is a subject which has always fascinated me. (It also grips the attention of the thousands of tourists who flock to Salem to visit the dozens of musuems, theaters, and shops dedicated to this dark time in the town's history.)
How did an entire community go mad? There are no easy answers, I think.
Here is a brief chronology of events:
The Salem Witch Trials 1692
Let's start at the beginning.
An important factor not mentioned in this paragraph is the fact that Elizabeth and Abigail were often under the care of Tituba, a Caribbean slave. You can read about her here:
Tituba
So you have two little girls living in a world where life is harder than most of us can imagine. They must have had almost nothing that we would think of as "fun" in their lives. Would not the exotic, magical tales of Tituba set their imaginations on fire, with terrible consequences?
In a society in which witchcraft was thought to be a very real threat, this set off a series of accusations and counter-accusations. Faced with the possibility of torture and death, who among us would be brave enough to stand up to our accusers? Who among us would be brave enough not to denounce other innocents?
Things might not have gotten so far out of control if the settlement of Salem had not been in a state of turmoil at the time.
Life in Salem 1692
To make matters worse, there was conflict between social classes in the region.
Economic and Social Divisions
Salem was a powderkeg waiting to explode. A firm belief in the power of Satan over the visible world was the fuse. Tituba and the little girls were the match.
It's easy for us to feel superior to the good folk of Salem. But have things really changed so much?
Religious Tolerance.org
How did an entire community go mad? There are no easy answers, I think.
Here is a brief chronology of events:
The Salem Witch Trials 1692
Let's start at the beginning.
QUOTE
January 20
Nine-year-old Elizabeth Parris and eleven-year-old Abigail Williams began to exhibit strange behavior, such as blasphemous screaming, convulsive seizures, trance-like states and mysterious spells. Within a short time, several other Salem girls began to demonstrate similar behavior.
Nine-year-old Elizabeth Parris and eleven-year-old Abigail Williams began to exhibit strange behavior, such as blasphemous screaming, convulsive seizures, trance-like states and mysterious spells. Within a short time, several other Salem girls began to demonstrate similar behavior.
An important factor not mentioned in this paragraph is the fact that Elizabeth and Abigail were often under the care of Tituba, a Caribbean slave. You can read about her here:
Tituba
So you have two little girls living in a world where life is harder than most of us can imagine. They must have had almost nothing that we would think of as "fun" in their lives. Would not the exotic, magical tales of Tituba set their imaginations on fire, with terrible consequences?
In a society in which witchcraft was thought to be a very real threat, this set off a series of accusations and counter-accusations. Faced with the possibility of torture and death, who among us would be brave enough to stand up to our accusers? Who among us would be brave enough not to denounce other innocents?
QUOTE
Margaret Jacobs
"... They told me if I would not confess I should be put down into the dungeon and would be hanged, but if I would confess I should save my life."
"... They told me if I would not confess I should be put down into the dungeon and would be hanged, but if I would confess I should save my life."
Things might not have gotten so far out of control if the settlement of Salem had not been in a state of turmoil at the time.
Life in Salem 1692
QUOTE
The events of 1692 took place during a difficult and confusing period for Salem Village. As part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Salem was under British rule. When the hysteria began, the colony was waiting for a new governor and had no charter to enforce laws. By the time the new governor, William Phips, arrived in Massachusetts, the jails were already filled with alleged witches. To make matters worse, New England towns were under attack by Native Americans and French Canadians.
To make matters worse, there was conflict between social classes in the region.
Economic and Social Divisions
QUOTE
Tensions became worse when Salem Village selected Reverend Samuel Parris as their new minister. Parris was a stern Puritan who denounced the worldly ways and economic prosperity of Salem Town as the influence of the Devil. His rhetoric further separated the two factions within Salem Village.
It is likely that the jealousies and hostilities between these two factions played a major role in the witch trials. Most of the villagers accused of witchcraft lived near Ipswich Road, whereas the accusers lived in the distant farms of Salem Village. It is not surprising that Reverend Parris was a vigorous supporter of the witch trials, and his impassioned sermons helped fan the flames of the hysteria.
It is likely that the jealousies and hostilities between these two factions played a major role in the witch trials. Most of the villagers accused of witchcraft lived near Ipswich Road, whereas the accusers lived in the distant farms of Salem Village. It is not surprising that Reverend Parris was a vigorous supporter of the witch trials, and his impassioned sermons helped fan the flames of the hysteria.
Salem was a powderkeg waiting to explode. A firm belief in the power of Satan over the visible world was the fuse. Tituba and the little girls were the match.
It's easy for us to feel superior to the good folk of Salem. But have things really changed so much?
Religious Tolerance.org
QUOTE
We have studied over 40 Multi-Victim, Multi-Offender (MVMO) cases at 24 locations, mostly involving allegations of ritual abuse, since 1995.
In other areas of this web site, we do not take sides. We do not reach conclusions. We merely report both or all sides of each issue and let our readers make up their mind. However, with these ritual abuse cases, it seemed obvious to us that grave injustices had been done. As Kimberly Hart of the National Child Abuse Defense Center said, the police and District Attorneys' offices had suspended their "intellectual integrity." They readily "believed the absurd." We decided to write the essays with the assumption that most of the defendants were innocent.
We believe that some sexual molestation did happen at Country Walk, in Miami FL, and perhaps in a few of the remaining cases. But it is our opinion that:
No ritual abuse occurred in any of the cases.
Any criminal acts were non-ritual abuse by a single perpetrator.
Most or all of the crimes never happened.
Hundreds of adults were convicted of ritual abuse of children, mostly during the 1980s and early 1990s. Almost all have had their cases revisited. Most convictions have been overturned because of what we now know about:
How easy it was for investigators to get false disclosures of abuse from young children by simply asking direct questions, repeatedly.
How meaningless the past standards of evidence were for sexual abuse of girls.
How meaningless past STD lab tests were on children.
A few innocent people continue to rot in prison in the United States and elsewhere.
In other areas of this web site, we do not take sides. We do not reach conclusions. We merely report both or all sides of each issue and let our readers make up their mind. However, with these ritual abuse cases, it seemed obvious to us that grave injustices had been done. As Kimberly Hart of the National Child Abuse Defense Center said, the police and District Attorneys' offices had suspended their "intellectual integrity." They readily "believed the absurd." We decided to write the essays with the assumption that most of the defendants were innocent.
We believe that some sexual molestation did happen at Country Walk, in Miami FL, and perhaps in a few of the remaining cases. But it is our opinion that:
No ritual abuse occurred in any of the cases.
Any criminal acts were non-ritual abuse by a single perpetrator.
Most or all of the crimes never happened.
Hundreds of adults were convicted of ritual abuse of children, mostly during the 1980s and early 1990s. Almost all have had their cases revisited. Most convictions have been overturned because of what we now know about:
How easy it was for investigators to get false disclosures of abuse from young children by simply asking direct questions, repeatedly.
How meaningless the past standards of evidence were for sexual abuse of girls.
How meaningless past STD lab tests were on children.
A few innocent people continue to rot in prison in the United States and elsewhere.
The match may have been ergot, a fungus that occassionally effects rye and causes many of the symptoms that affected the early "victims of witchcraft". An interesting article on the subject can be found at http://web.utk.edu/~kstclair/221/ergotism.html
There is no doubt that the religious beliefs of the citizens of Salem influenced their judgement that these symptoms were the devil's work. The syptoms of the victims may well have had a biological cause that 17th century people could not have known. In the absence of science individuals turned to superstition to explain the affliction on the community.
There is no doubt that the religious beliefs of the citizens of Salem influenced their judgement that these symptoms were the devil's work. The syptoms of the victims may well have had a biological cause that 17th century people could not have known. In the absence of science individuals turned to superstition to explain the affliction on the community.
Evidence and common law
Spectral evidence and the testimony of a group of rather disturbed teenage girls was the primary evidence offered. These girls had been involved with a woman named Tituba who practiced voodoo fortune telling. Sometime later the girls were supposedly afflicted by the Devil or maybe even possessed. Now weather or not they actually were is hard to say but if they were, why would someone rely on the testimony of people under the influence of the devil anyway? That’s not just unchristian it’s insane!
The whole thing was a complete travesty. A travesty not uncommon in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries where hundreds of thousands of people were put to death. It wasn’t as bad in England because under common law it was just a misdemeanor for a long time. That changed in 1604 when death was prescribed but even then few were actually executed. Also common law provides certain “rights” to the accused. Not the least of which is to be considered innocent until proven guilty. In the rest of Europe burning witches was quite common while in England it was relatively rare. These common law “rights” are the forerunner of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution. The common law system of justice wasn't something we got rid of after the Revolution. If anything it was having the common law rights that people had become accustomed to, denied, that led to rebellion. Sometimes not just how people were prosecuted was bizarre but often who they accused.
A child as young as 4 or 5 was imprisoned. Now, first off, how much witchcraft could this baby have actually learned. They put 5 year old Dorcas Good not just in jail, but in chains! She was not released untill he father paid for the cost of the shackles, this was obviously about money.
Mens Rea and Criminal Intent
In modern times we think of witch-hunts as nothing but superstition and fear but the motives were more deliberate. Remember that Bacan’s Rebellion and the Trail of Tears were fomented by a desire for land. The law is often used by the status quo to subvert the rights of the less fortunate. The advent of slavery in the Americas was due in large part to the legal definition concerning what is called ‘real property’. People were reduced to the status of property and that excluded them from rights afforded other people. This resulted in 2% of the population of the antibellion south owning most of the land. This may seem like I’m begging the question a little but greed wasn’t eradicated when the witch-hunts stopped.
Kai T. Erikson, a professor of sociology at Yale University had this to say; “The way in which a society defines and deals with criminality reveals much about the fundamental nature of that society”. In his discussion of the political and social turmoil of the times he quotes John Josselyn who visited Boston in 1668. “He observed that people were ‘savagely factious’ in their relations with one another and acted out of jealousy and greed then any sense of religious purpose.”
Spectral evidence and the testimony of a group of rather disturbed teenage girls was the primary evidence offered. These girls had been involved with a woman named Tituba who practiced voodoo fortune telling. Sometime later the girls were supposedly afflicted by the Devil or maybe even possessed. Now weather or not they actually were is hard to say but if they were, why would someone rely on the testimony of people under the influence of the devil anyway? That’s not just unchristian it’s insane!
The whole thing was a complete travesty. A travesty not uncommon in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries where hundreds of thousands of people were put to death. It wasn’t as bad in England because under common law it was just a misdemeanor for a long time. That changed in 1604 when death was prescribed but even then few were actually executed. Also common law provides certain “rights” to the accused. Not the least of which is to be considered innocent until proven guilty. In the rest of Europe burning witches was quite common while in England it was relatively rare. These common law “rights” are the forerunner of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution. The common law system of justice wasn't something we got rid of after the Revolution. If anything it was having the common law rights that people had become accustomed to, denied, that led to rebellion. Sometimes not just how people were prosecuted was bizarre but often who they accused.
A child as young as 4 or 5 was imprisoned. Now, first off, how much witchcraft could this baby have actually learned. They put 5 year old Dorcas Good not just in jail, but in chains! She was not released untill he father paid for the cost of the shackles, this was obviously about money.
Mens Rea and Criminal Intent
In modern times we think of witch-hunts as nothing but superstition and fear but the motives were more deliberate. Remember that Bacan’s Rebellion and the Trail of Tears were fomented by a desire for land. The law is often used by the status quo to subvert the rights of the less fortunate. The advent of slavery in the Americas was due in large part to the legal definition concerning what is called ‘real property’. People were reduced to the status of property and that excluded them from rights afforded other people. This resulted in 2% of the population of the antibellion south owning most of the land. This may seem like I’m begging the question a little but greed wasn’t eradicated when the witch-hunts stopped.
Kai T. Erikson, a professor of sociology at Yale University had this to say; “The way in which a society defines and deals with criminality reveals much about the fundamental nature of that society”. In his discussion of the political and social turmoil of the times he quotes John Josselyn who visited Boston in 1668. “He observed that people were ‘savagely factious’ in their relations with one another and acted out of jealousy and greed then any sense of religious purpose.”
All the hysteria, greed and superstition made its way from the British Isles and the European continent, unfortunately. The witch trials were fueled by the ignorance of many and the greed of some.
Wouldn't it have been nice if these people were aware of the cooked-down version of Occam's Razor (the simplest explanation is probably the right one)? These girls were overwrought and, instead of admitting to their behavior and getting possibly a beating for their acting out, they got far more attention and sympathy when they tapped into the imagery of being persecuted by those in league with the Devil. Of course, the dire consequence was that innocent people lost their lives.
What transpired is especially ironic since these upstanding citizens made no bones about slave ownership. That was okay, but the thought of someone (or many someones in this case) practicing "the black arts" was not okay. It also reveals just how shallow their beliefs must have been, that they did not trust their Deity to keep them safe, as the Bible said He would.
What was badly needed was for these girls to be kept busy and a few parents willing to say, Look, my daughter's out of control. I apologize for her acting out--the situation will be remedied.
Wouldn't it have been nice if these people were aware of the cooked-down version of Occam's Razor (the simplest explanation is probably the right one)? These girls were overwrought and, instead of admitting to their behavior and getting possibly a beating for their acting out, they got far more attention and sympathy when they tapped into the imagery of being persecuted by those in league with the Devil. Of course, the dire consequence was that innocent people lost their lives.
What transpired is especially ironic since these upstanding citizens made no bones about slave ownership. That was okay, but the thought of someone (or many someones in this case) practicing "the black arts" was not okay. It also reveals just how shallow their beliefs must have been, that they did not trust their Deity to keep them safe, as the Bible said He would.
What was badly needed was for these girls to be kept busy and a few parents willing to say, Look, my daughter's out of control. I apologize for her acting out--the situation will be remedied.
Let's not forget that this was nearly two-hundred years before the development of what we consider to be modern medicine.
The Salem witch trials hae a lot of little causes and a tradition of believing in witchcraft and a more active need to deal with the affairs of the devil here on earth.
Economic
There was Salem Village and Salem Town. The coast side of Salem was experiencing the economic prosperity that was supposed to accompany the hard work and devotion of the Puritan lifestyle, but the prosperous post and trading community was becoming more and more secular and was starting to look too worldly.
Political
The charter of Massachusetts had recently been revoked and a Royal Governor was in the process of arriving. This caused tension in the community and anxiety about the future of the Congregational church which came for religious freedom but did not want religious freedom in their midst.
Medical
Recently smallpox and other ailments had afflicted New England and some suspected this to be a sign of divine disappointment
Foreign Affairs
Recent Indian attacks also created this uncertainty
Social
Tensions in the community allowed a starting series of accusations to make sense. Targets were those who stressed female individuality. Old woman living alone (not considered socially right in Puritan mass) Single mothers, a mean beggar woman, and then the cycle spiralled
Celebrity
A famous Boston preacher convinced of the threats of witchcraft named cotton (or was it Increase) Mather. He helped persuade the judges on the specially convened court to allow spectral evidence.
Groupthink.
The proverbial witchhunt. A little fear begets a lot more.
Thankfully someone accused the new governor's wife before it spiralled into a truly European sized witch hunt and I think 20 people were killed and those left in prison were released.
Those who took this witchcraft thing seriously were more likely to be killed because the people who confessed were saved from execution in return for naming names.
The Salem witch trials hae a lot of little causes and a tradition of believing in witchcraft and a more active need to deal with the affairs of the devil here on earth.
Economic
There was Salem Village and Salem Town. The coast side of Salem was experiencing the economic prosperity that was supposed to accompany the hard work and devotion of the Puritan lifestyle, but the prosperous post and trading community was becoming more and more secular and was starting to look too worldly.
Political
The charter of Massachusetts had recently been revoked and a Royal Governor was in the process of arriving. This caused tension in the community and anxiety about the future of the Congregational church which came for religious freedom but did not want religious freedom in their midst.
Medical
Recently smallpox and other ailments had afflicted New England and some suspected this to be a sign of divine disappointment
Foreign Affairs
Recent Indian attacks also created this uncertainty
Social
Tensions in the community allowed a starting series of accusations to make sense. Targets were those who stressed female individuality. Old woman living alone (not considered socially right in Puritan mass) Single mothers, a mean beggar woman, and then the cycle spiralled
Celebrity
A famous Boston preacher convinced of the threats of witchcraft named cotton (or was it Increase) Mather. He helped persuade the judges on the specially convened court to allow spectral evidence.
Groupthink.
The proverbial witchhunt. A little fear begets a lot more.
Thankfully someone accused the new governor's wife before it spiralled into a truly European sized witch hunt and I think 20 people were killed and those left in prison were released.
Those who took this witchcraft thing seriously were more likely to be killed because the people who confessed were saved from execution in return for naming names.
I know very little about the Salem witchunts, except what has been written here and in dramas like The Crucible.
But from what I do know, I think I can make a stab at answering the debate question:
What caused the witch hunts of Salemtown in the summer of 1692.
One word - ignorance. The people then didn't know many of the things we know now. They clung to ideas they were dear to them in preference to the facts available to them at the time.
We can be forgiving of some of these errors with hindsight, because in our scientific and technological advances since these times, we know things they don't (like the effects of ergot poisoning, etc.). Also, philosphically, we have learned things about investigation that rest on demonstrable evidence and general scepticism of every theory that doesn't rely on hard evidence - many of the rights we give to defendants or suspects today (for example privacy from searches) are only challengeable with reasonable, evidence-based suspicion.
In learning lessons from history (the only way in which historical sutdies are more than an interesting pastime) we would do well to remember that ignorance is not our friend but our enemy. And, these days, it is not nearly as excusable as it was in the 17th century.
But from what I do know, I think I can make a stab at answering the debate question:
What caused the witch hunts of Salemtown in the summer of 1692.
One word - ignorance. The people then didn't know many of the things we know now. They clung to ideas they were dear to them in preference to the facts available to them at the time.
We can be forgiving of some of these errors with hindsight, because in our scientific and technological advances since these times, we know things they don't (like the effects of ergot poisoning, etc.). Also, philosphically, we have learned things about investigation that rest on demonstrable evidence and general scepticism of every theory that doesn't rely on hard evidence - many of the rights we give to defendants or suspects today (for example privacy from searches) are only challengeable with reasonable, evidence-based suspicion.
In learning lessons from history (the only way in which historical sutdies are more than an interesting pastime) we would do well to remember that ignorance is not our friend but our enemy. And, these days, it is not nearly as excusable as it was in the 17th century.
Crazy behavior was far from unusual in history…especially the plague years. “Dancing mania”, as well as “morbid sympathy” (explained further down the page), were very common phenomena during the Middle Ages, for example. Though the culprit might have been ergot, the population seemed to have a very different reaction to the symptoms depending on the time period, which I find interesting. It wasn’t until the 1500s and 1600s that those symptoms were blamed on witches throughout Europe, and eventually Massachusetts. Later, in the 1740s, the symptoms became a mark of holy, not demonic, possession. Such visions, trances, and spasms were interpreted as religious ecstasy.
I’m reading a book entitled, The Battle for God, by Karen Armstrong, which involves this subject. Periods of transition in society often spark religious anxiety. The greater the transition, the more extreme the anxiety. Most of the book describes such movements of the past to offer an explanation of what we are seeing now with radical fundamentalism, so it just touches on the Witch hunts as part of an overall picture.
As the world changed, the population experienced its slow transformation in incoherent ways. As the old mythology that gave structure and significance to their lives crumbled under the impact of change, they often experienced a numbing loss of identity and a paralyzing despair. This sometimes erupted (erupts?) into extremes of violence, or other types of religious irrationality. It’s hard for us to understand today, with the acceptance of a total separation between religion and science, but before the Age of Reason, there was not such separation throughout the Christian religion. The witch trials took place around the very time that science was usurping religion as the means to answers in the physical world.
I’m reading a book entitled, The Battle for God, by Karen Armstrong, which involves this subject. Periods of transition in society often spark religious anxiety. The greater the transition, the more extreme the anxiety. Most of the book describes such movements of the past to offer an explanation of what we are seeing now with radical fundamentalism, so it just touches on the Witch hunts as part of an overall picture.
As the world changed, the population experienced its slow transformation in incoherent ways. As the old mythology that gave structure and significance to their lives crumbled under the impact of change, they often experienced a numbing loss of identity and a paralyzing despair. This sometimes erupted (erupts?) into extremes of violence, or other types of religious irrationality. It’s hard for us to understand today, with the acceptance of a total separation between religion and science, but before the Age of Reason, there was not such separation throughout the Christian religion. The witch trials took place around the very time that science was usurping religion as the means to answers in the physical world.
QUOTE
Paradoxically, the emergence of reason as the sole criterion of truth in the west coincided with an eruption of religious irrationality. The great witch craze of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, which raged through many of the protestant and catholic countries of Europe and even made a brief appearance in the American colonies, showed that cult of scientific rationalism cannot always hold darker forces at bay.
Mysticism and mythology had taught man and women to deal with the world of the unconscious. It may not be accidental that at a time when religious faith was beginning to abandon this type of spirituality, the subconscious ran amok. The witch craze has been described as a collective fantasy, shared by men, women, and their inquisitors throughout Christendom. People believed that they had sexual intercourse with demons, and flew through the ai at night to take part in satanic rituals and perverse orgies. Witches were thought to worship the devil instead of god in a parody of the mass---a reversal that could represent a widespread unconscious rebellion against traditional faith. God was beginning to seem so remote, alien, and demanding that for some he was becoming demonic: subconscious fears and desires were projected upon the imaginary figure of satan, depicted as a monstrous version of humanity. The new scientific rationalism, which took no cognizance of these deeper levels of the mind, was powerless to control this hysterical outburst. A massive, fearful, and destructive un-reason has also been part of the modern experience.
Mysticism and mythology had taught man and women to deal with the world of the unconscious. It may not be accidental that at a time when religious faith was beginning to abandon this type of spirituality, the subconscious ran amok. The witch craze has been described as a collective fantasy, shared by men, women, and their inquisitors throughout Christendom. People believed that they had sexual intercourse with demons, and flew through the ai at night to take part in satanic rituals and perverse orgies. Witches were thought to worship the devil instead of god in a parody of the mass---a reversal that could represent a widespread unconscious rebellion against traditional faith. God was beginning to seem so remote, alien, and demanding that for some he was becoming demonic: subconscious fears and desires were projected upon the imaginary figure of satan, depicted as a monstrous version of humanity. The new scientific rationalism, which took no cognizance of these deeper levels of the mind, was powerless to control this hysterical outburst. A massive, fearful, and destructive un-reason has also been part of the modern experience.
QUOTE
Wouldn't it have been nice if these people were aware of the cooked-down version of Occam's Razor (the simplest explanation is probably the right one)? These girls were overwrought and, instead of admitting to their behavior and getting possibly a beating for their acting out, they got far more attention and sympathy when they tapped into the imagery of being persecuted by those in league with the Devil. Of course, the dire consequence was that innocent people lost their lives.
The fact that they were Calvinists can account for the fact that they believed in the devil but had no idea how to deal with him. They had been taught that there was a devil but never allowed to expel the demon from people that were possessed. This is simply unbiblical. The fact that very little, if any, scripture was used to support witch trials is significant. However when the people from the jury and some of the magistrates later confessed their ‘error and guilt’ in the matter. A well-ordered list of Biblical referances was included, complete with book, chapter and verse (Implying authority). Cotton Mathers on the other hand makes a sting of disjointed general referance to biblical images and phrases in the opening section of ‘More Wonders’ however, in his discussion about the trial he seems obsessed with ‘spectral evidence’. Neither the name of Christ or the authority of scripture is even suggested. I have to wonder if Mathers wasn’t dabbling in the occult himself. He seemed more fascinated with dream interruption then he did the Bible. The problem wasn’t religion it was greed and no judicial restraint for the prosecutors.
QUOTE
Tensions in the community allowed a starting series of accusations to make sense. Targets were those who stressed female individuality. Old woman living alone (not considered socially right in Puritan mass) Single mothers, a mean beggar woman, and then the cycle spiralled
The Accused
Apparently people who confessed were not executed while people who were openly defiant were put to death. For instance Sarah Good was very poor and had to beg to help support her family. She was known to have an unpleasant disposition especially with people who refused to give her anything. The evidence against her was spectral evidence, and the deranged teenage girl’s testimony. There was also Sarah Osgood who had lived with her husband before they were married. She also had failed to attend for over a year. This sort of behavior made one real unpopular in Salemtown. And apparently, unpopular women were the earliest targets but not the only ones.
Martha Corey was considered respectable but was openly hostile toward the witch trials. Not only had she refused to attend the earlier trials but unsaddled her husband’s horse and hid the saddle when her husband tried to go. At Corey’s trial she even testified that she was a Christian (Gospel woman) and had nothing to do with witchcraft. The deranged teenagers said she was a witch and when it was your word against theirs you’d lose.
Rebecca Nurse was a 71-year-old woman who denied the validity of the spectral evidence and questioned the authority of the court. Her sisters Sarah Cloyce and Mary Easty defended her as did 40 others who signed a petition that was submitted to the court all to no avail. Far from being an isolated incident there is a definite pattern here. While the trial was going on Samuel Parris preached a sermon suggesting that Nurse was guilty. Her sister, Cloyce got up and walked out, slamming the door behind her. It a couple of days they were accusing her of being a witch.
Online Resources
I thought some of you might be interested in some fairly good online resource of Cotton Mathers (not to be confused with his father Increase Mathers) . I recommend that you take a look at More Wonders of the Unseen World.
Cotton Mathers Home Page
You might also find it helpfull to take a look at the trial transcripts:
Salem Witch Trails
"Papers in the State house in Maine indicate that he was regarded with confidence by his neighbors and looked up to as a friend and counselor. As a result of his untarnished record, despite the danger to themselves, thirty-two of the most respectable citizens of the Village signed a petition on behalf on Burroughs' innocence, and even before his execution, one of his accusers recanted her accusation as groundless and made out of fear. It was no use. Burroughs was hanged on August 17 along with three other men and one woman, all supposed witches.
As he stood on the gallows awaiting the noose, Buroughs stunned the crowd by loudly proclaiming his innocence and then reciting the Lord's Prayer without hesitation or error, a feat thought impossible for a wizard. The spectators, deeply impressed, called for his pardon.However, more legal-minded officials overseeing the execution refused, and the convicted man was hanged before the protesting spectators could organize their opposition."
George Burroughs
Talk about a rush to judgment! Obviously fear and superstition was rampant throughout the trails but real world evidence was discarded while crazy baseless verdicts were imposed without restraint. I still maintain that it was blind greed and a lack of judicial restraint that caused the witch hunts.
QUOTE(phaedrus @ Jan 17 2005, 11:23 AM)
Talk about a rush to judgment! Obviously fear and superstition was rampant throughout the trails but real world evidence was discarded while crazy baseless verdicts were imposed without restraint. I still maintain that it was blind greed and a lack of judicial restraint that caused the witch hunts.
Is there something unique about this in the history of witch hunts? I don't see anything distinctive about Salem, in relation to what was happening and/or happened during the same relative timeframe, on a much larger scale, throughout Europe as well. Greed was/is certainly not new, odd behavior was/is not new, nor was lack of judicial restraint. Certainly witch hunts were not restricted to the Calvinists. I think the answers are not so specific here.
QUOTE((phaedrus @ Jan 17 2005 @ 11:23 AM))
Talk about a rush to judgment! Obviously fear and superstition was rampant throughout the trails but real world evidence was discarded while crazy baseless verdicts were imposed without restraint. I still maintain that it was blind greed and a lack of judicial restraint that caused the witch hunts.
BEDEVERE:
What makes you think she is a witch?
VILLAGER #3:
Well, she turned me into a newt.
BEDEVERE:
A newt?
VILLAGER #3:
I got better.
VILLAGER #2:
Burn her anyway!
VILLAGER #1:
Burn!
CROWD:
Burn her! Burn! Burn her!...
BEDEVERE:
Quiet! Quiet! Quiet! Quiet! There are ways of telling whether she is a witch.
..the rest of the court-room proceedings may be found here
(sorry, just couldn't resist, but seemed very apropo to this discussion).
...and now, back to our originally scheduled debate....
QUOTE(Mrs. Pigpen @ Jan 17 2005, 03:03 PM)
Is there something unique about this in the history of witch hunts? I don't see anything distinctive about Salem, in relation to what was happening and/or happened during the same relative timeframe, on a much larger scale, throughout Europe as well. Greed was/is certainly not new, odd behavior was/is not new, nor was lack of judicial restraint. Certainly witch hunts were not restricted to the Calvinists. I think the answers are not so specific here.
There is certainly something odd about them, while the witch hunts of Europe were subsiding one broke out in Salem. Alonso Salazar was a Spainish inquisitor that after close investigation concluded that. "There were neither witches nor bewitched until they were talked !and written about," by 1614 the Spainish Inquisition stopped burning witches altogether.
The spark that ignited the powder keg
Some five to ten miles from Salem there was established a community that became known as Salem Village. They were trying to establish independance from Salem but the authorities there didn't like the idea of giving up control of this valuable area, much less the tax revenue. You might remember that the Revolution, the Wiskey Rebellion and to some extent the Civil war was partly over taxes. Salem Village had managed to get a seperate parish and over the next ten years they had three ministers, one of which was George Burroughs, who would later be hung as a witch.
Enter Samuel Parris, he had made some kind of an agreement by which he was to aquire full ownership of a two acre parsonage. This sparked a bitter controversy and it should be noted that it was scheduled to be completed in October of 1691.
"Robert Calef, would write of the parsonage dispute, "This occasioned great Divisions both between the Inhabitants themselves, and between a considerable part of them and their said Minister, which Divisions were but the beginning or Praeludium to what immediately followed." Slowly festering, the controversy continued to build until by October 1691 the opposition faction made its move. In the annual election of the Village Committee, the old committee made up of the minister's church supporters was ousted and a new committee composed of Joseph Porter, Francis Nurse, Joseph Putnam, Daniel Andrews, and Joseph Hutchinson, most if not all strong opponents of Parris, was installed. "
The Causes of the Salem Witch Hunts
Notice the name I bolded in the quote, Francis Nurse was the mother of Rebecca Nurse who would later be accused of being a witch had land disputes with the family of one of her accusers, John Putnam. Bear in mind That Rebecca Nurse was a well respected women and many in the communitee signed a petition for her to be aquited, Parris had an ulterior motive for his part in the witch hunt. What is more his daughter and neice were among the disturbed teenagers making the accusitions. The dispute that ignited this hysteria was over land, I think that is pretty clear.
Perhaps the "Witch Trials" would have died a natural death had the young ladies not fallen ill from "afflictions caused by Demons," however it is not historical reality. For the powerful of the community issued proclamations of arrest and death for fellow neighbors. It is my belief that events transpired due to personal conflicts and poor social ties. Had those with influence not continued accusing each other and their friends the drum-heads would not have continued.
Those self-proclaimed "judges" were determined to weed out diversity, and what better excuse than a mass hunt of Devil-worshippers? Settlers of Salem Town expected it's citizens to be perfect replicas of the model Puritan, which resulted in tension between neighbors, foremost those with power. Had the young ladies not fallen ill due to "afflictions due to Demonic possession" it is likely "trials" would never have occurred.
However, the "trials" did indeed press on in historical record. Tragic products of rivalry death is. Feuding among the movers and shakers of old Salem Town caused the lighting of a match which sparked the wick of a time bomb waiting to destroy all diversity and all traces of non-conformity. With one swift movement fate brought circumstances to a crossroads to converge in despair at Salem.
The truth of the matter is that the citizens of Salem died because they were too different or subject of intense dislike on the part of powerful families. The sickness of the girls made for an excuse, the powerful took this as a sign to press on with their prosecutions of anyone they deemed too unimportant to live. In conclusion, it is the opinion of this writer that timing was perfect and the stage was set for conflict.
Those self-proclaimed "judges" were determined to weed out diversity, and what better excuse than a mass hunt of Devil-worshippers? Settlers of Salem Town expected it's citizens to be perfect replicas of the model Puritan, which resulted in tension between neighbors, foremost those with power. Had the young ladies not fallen ill due to "afflictions due to Demonic possession" it is likely "trials" would never have occurred.
However, the "trials" did indeed press on in historical record. Tragic products of rivalry death is. Feuding among the movers and shakers of old Salem Town caused the lighting of a match which sparked the wick of a time bomb waiting to destroy all diversity and all traces of non-conformity. With one swift movement fate brought circumstances to a crossroads to converge in despair at Salem.
The truth of the matter is that the citizens of Salem died because they were too different or subject of intense dislike on the part of powerful families. The sickness of the girls made for an excuse, the powerful took this as a sign to press on with their prosecutions of anyone they deemed too unimportant to live. In conclusion, it is the opinion of this writer that timing was perfect and the stage was set for conflict.
Suppose you were accused of being a witch in Salemtown in the spring of 1692. What would you do?
A. FLEE SALEM
B. ACCUSE SOMEONE ELSE
C. QUICK! GET PREGNANT
D. CONFESS, EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE INNOCENT
E. PLEAD INNOCENT AND STAND FOR TRIAL
F. REFUSE TO STAND FOR TRIAL AND FACE THE CONSEQUENCES
The Salem Papers has these choices along with a link to the consequences for those who chose them. I thought it might be at least an interesting post script unless someone knows of another option. Click on the link and scroll down to YOUR ACCUSED!
You are accused of being a witch, what do you do?
A. FLEE SALEM
B. ACCUSE SOMEONE ELSE
C. QUICK! GET PREGNANT
D. CONFESS, EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE INNOCENT
E. PLEAD INNOCENT AND STAND FOR TRIAL
F. REFUSE TO STAND FOR TRIAL AND FACE THE CONSEQUENCES
The Salem Papers has these choices along with a link to the consequences for those who chose them. I thought it might be at least an interesting post script unless someone knows of another option. Click on the link and scroll down to YOUR ACCUSED!
You are accused of being a witch, what do you do?
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