SALEM WITCH TRIALS (March – September 1692)
Contributing Factors
 Long history of witch trials in Europe
 Political and religious uncertainty
Quakers and the Church of England were challenging the
Puritans
Puritan paranoia
 Belief in the devil
Beginnings
The Salem Witch Trials began when a group of teenage girls became
hysterical and accused a slave woman, Tituba, of teaching them
witchcraft. Spectral evidence (dreams and hallucinations) were accepted
as evidence.
Process of Accusation
1. The accuser makes the accusation. His or her name would only
be revealed if he/she gave permission
2. The witch’s house is searched for ointments, herbs, or dolls
3. The witch’s body is searched for any unusual marks. These marks
were supposed to be the seal of their deal with the devil
and resistant to pain.
4. Torture the witch into confession.
Results
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19 witches were hanged.
One man was pressed to death for refusing to testify.
Finally the governor halted the trials.
In 1697 the jury and one of the girls admitted their mistake.
In 1711 the Massachusetts General Court exonerated some
of the witches and made reparations.
In 1957 the last witches were exonerated.
THE RED SCARE
Fear of communism following WWII
1938 House Committee on Un-American Activities: investigate unpatriotic behavior;
investigated radicals and subversives, particularly in Hollywood
1940 Alien Registration Act: illegal to advocate, abet or teach the desirability of
overthrowing the government; aliens over 14 had to register occupation and political
belief
1947 Hollywood Black List: studio executives bar suspected communists and
communist sympathizers in film industry from working in American films.
1950s Senator Joseph McCarthy, a Republican from Wisconsin, accused members of the
State Department of being communists. He chaired the Senate Permanent Subcommittee
on Investigations and went on to accuse officials in the U.S. Army of communism and
attempts to overthrow the government. In 1954 the McCarthy-Army Hearings were
televised. On December 2, 1954 the Senate voted to censure McCarthy.
Cotton Mather (1663 -1728)
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Born in Boston
Father, Increase Mather, was a famous scholar and minister
Entered Harvard at 12; received his MA at 18 from his father who was president
of Harvard
First studied medicine but became a minister.
Preached his first sermon at the Old North Church in 1680.
He also preached from his grandfather’s, Joseph Cotton’s, church.
Formally ordained in 1685.
Books
He published over 400 works
Essays to do Good
Advised teachers to reward instead of punish and doctors to study
the mind
Magnalia Christi Americana
Religious history of America
Most famous work
Beliefs
Believed in witches but later disputed spectral evidence on the grounds
that witches could change form
Advised inoculation against smallpox even though his son almost died
from it which caused a riot.