Source #1
Citation: "Salem Witch Trials." Wikipedia. www.wikipedia.org, 2010. Web. 22 June
2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch_trials>.
Salem Witch Trials
1876 illustration of the courtroom; the central figure is usually identified as Mary Walcott
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before local magistrates followed by
county court of trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in Essex, Suffolk, and
Middlesex counties of colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693.
The episode has been used in political rhetoric and popular literature as a vivid cautionary
tale about the dangers of religious extremism, false accusations, lapses in due process,
and governmental intrusion on individual liberties.
Religious context
The Puritans were a number of religious groups that sprang up during the 17th century as
opposition to the Church of England. Puritans opposed many of the traditions of the
Church of England, notably the Book of Common Prayer, but also ceremonial rituals
such as the use of priestly vestments (cap and gown) during services, the use of the Holy
Cross during baptism and kneeling during the sacrament. The colony of Massachusetts at
the time was heavily influenced by Puritan thought, but was not a theocracy. A few
Protestants (such as Roger Williams) prior to this period had contended that this level of
religious involvement in the State was contrary to the pure teachings of the New
Testament, in which the church was separate from the state (Mt. 22:21; 1Cor. 5:12, 13 1
Pet. 2:13, 14), and unrepentant sinful behavior that merited serious spiritual discipline
was administered by supernatural means (Acts 5:1–10; 1 Cor. 5:1–4; 1 Tim. 1:20).
In his book Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions (1689),
Cotton Mather describes strange behavior exhibited by the four children of Boston mason
John Goodwin and attributed it to witchcraft practiced upon them by an Irish
washerwoman, Mary Glover. Mather, a minister of Boston's North Church (not to be
confused with the Episcopal Old North Church of Paul Revere fame), was a prolific
publisher of pamphlets and a firm believer in witchcraft.
Social context
The patriarchal beliefs that Puritans held in the community added further stresses.
Women, they believed, should be totally subservient to men. By nature, a woman was
more likely to enlist in the Devil's service than was a man, and women were considered
lustful by nature. In addition, the small-town atmosphere made secrets difficult to keep
and people's opinions about their neighbors were generally accepted as fact. In an age
where the philosophy "children should be seen and not heard" was taken at face value,
children were at the bottom of the social ladder. Toys and games were seen as idle and
playing was discouraged. Girls had additional restrictions placed upon them and were
trained from a young age to spin yarn, cook, sew, weave, serve their husbands and bear
their children, while boys were able to go hunting, fishing, exploring in the forest, and
often became apprentices to carpenters and smiths.
Source #2
Citation: Kizer, Kayq. "Puritans." University of Notre Dame. http://www.nd.edu/, n.d.
Web. 22 June 2010. <http://www.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/puritans.html>.
PURITANS
The Puritans believed that the Bible was God's true law, and that it provided a plan for
living. The established church of the day described access to God as monastic and
possible only within the confines of "church authority". Puritans stripped away the
traditional trappings and formalities of Christianity which had been slowly building
throughout the previous 1500 years. Theirs was an attempt to "purify" the church and
their own lives.
Religious exclusiveness was the foremost principle of their society. The spiritual beliefs
that they held were strong. This strength held over to include community laws and
customs. Since God was at the forefront of their minds, He was to motivate all of their
actions. This premise worked both for them and against them.
Each church congregation was to be individually responsible to God, as was each person.
The New Testament was their model and their devotion so great that it permeated their
entire society. People of opposing theological views were asked to leave the community
or to be converted.
Their interpretation of scriptures was a harsh one. They emphasized a redemptive piety.
In principle, they emphasized conversion and not repression. Conversion was a rejection
of the "worldliness" of society and a strict adherence to Biblical principles. Actions
spoke louder than words, so actions had to be constantly controlled.
Any deviations from the normal way of Puritan life met with strict disapproval and
discipline. Since the church elders were also political leaders, any church infraction was
also a social one. There was no margin for error.
The devil was behind every evil deed. Constant watch needed to be kept in order to stay
away from his clutches. Words of hell fire and brimstone flowed from the mouths of
eloquent ministers as they warned of the persuasiveness of the devil's power. Great pains
were taken to warn their members and especially their children of the dangers of the
world. Religiously motivated, they were exceptional in their time for their interest in the
education of their children. The Bible stimulated their corporate intellect by promoting
discussions of literature. Greek classics of Cicero, Virgil, Terence and Ovid were taught,
as well as poetry and Latin verse. They were encouraged to create their own poetry,
always religious in content.
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Source #3
Citation: "Life in Salem 1692." Salem Witch Trials.
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/, 2010. Web. 22 June 2010.
<http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/salemwitchtrials/life/religion.ht
ml>.
Religion and Witchcraft
Church was the cornerstone of 17th century life in New England. Most people in
Massachusetts were Puritans—colonists who had left England seeking religious
tolerance. But the strict Puritan code was far from tolerant. It was against the law not to
attend church—where men and women sat on opposite sides through long services. The
Puritan lifestyle was restrained and rigid: People were expected to work hard and repress
their emotions or opinions. Individual differences were frowned upon. Even the dark,
somber Puritan dress was dictated by the church.
Since Puritans were expected to live by a rigid moral code, they believed that all sins—
from sleeping in church to stealing food—should be punished. They also believed God
would punish sinful behavior. When a neighbor would suffer misfortune, such as a sick
child or a failed crop, Puritans saw it as God’s will and did not help.
Puritans also believed the Devil was as real as God. Everyone was faced with the struggle
between the powers of good and evil, but Satan would select the weakest individuals—
women, children, the insane—to carry out his work. Those who followed Satan were
considered witches. Witchcraft was one of the greatest crimes a person could commit,
punishable by death.
In keeping with the Puritan code of conformity, the first women to be accused of
witchcraft in Salem were seen as different and as social outcasts: Tituba, a slave; Sarah
Good, a homeless beggar; and Sarah Osborne, a sickly old woman who married her
servant.
Fear of magic and witchcraft was common in New England, as it had been in Europe for
centuries. Over 100 alleged witches had been tried and hanged in New England during
the 1600s. But the hangings in 1692 Salem would be the last ones in America.
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Source #4
Citation: "Salem Witch Trials Essay." Blog. Custom Writings: The Art of Relieving
Student's Pain. Custome Writing Services L.L.C., 2003. Web. 22 June 2010.
<http://www.customwritings.com/blog/example-essays/salem-witch-trials-essay.html>.
Salem Witch Trials Essay
The Salem Witch Trials, of 1692, occurred in Salem Massachusetts. This is a case where
people accused other people of witchcraft. Salem was a town governed by strict Puritan
religion, and to have such a charge labeled against you could cost you your life.
According to Boyer and Nissenbaum, there were many worldly reasons for the events
that happened so many years ago. In this essay, the authors make their findings based on
scientific analysis and much historical research. Paul Boyer and Stephen argued that the
Salem Witchcraft Trials took place because of the separation of the east and west, the
choosing of the ministers of the church, and the agricultural and merchant interests.
Salem town was a spot for commerce in New England; those living in the east part were
living well. “By contrast the farmers in the western portion of Salem Village were tied
closely to traditional agrarian life” (Boyer & Nissenbaum 40). Those living on the east
side wanted to close out everything but the western side. Also those people accused lived
on “Ipswich Road, a route that passed by the village rather than through it, a main
thoroughfare for travels and for commerce” (Boyer & Nissenbaum 40). Those who lived
outside of he precepts of Puritan standards were always in danger. Anyone who dressed
flamboyantly or ran a tavern could be accused. “Two tavern keepers, John Proctor and
Bridget Bishop, were hung as witches; Elizabeth Proctor barely escaped with her life; and
Joshua Rea, another tavern keeper on the road, signed a petition defending Goody
Nurse”(Boyer & Nissenbaum 41).
According to Boyer and Nissenbaum “Their reconstruction suggest that the Salem body
politic was experiencing its own social analogue of conversion hysteria”(Boyer &
Nissenbaum 41). The conflicts that occurred here in Salem went from disagreements
between three factions and lead to accusations of “a plague from the invisible
world”(Boyer & Nissenbaum 41). The farmers of Salem were determined to stop the
merchants at any costs and as a result the charge of witchcraft was applied.
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Source #5
Citation: Woolf, Alan. "Witchcraft or Mycotoxin? The Salem Witch Trials." Journal of
Toxicology: Clinical Toxicology 38.4 (2000): 457. General OneFile. Web. 22 June 2010.
Witchcraft or Mycotoxin? The Salem Witch Trials.
Background: The Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 have been studied by many historians
looking for the complex social, political, and psychological determinants behind the
community-wide hysteria that led to a travesty of justice and the deaths of 20 innocent
Puritans. Recently, ergot poisoning has been put forth by some as a previously
unsuspected cause of the bizarre behaviors of the young adolescent girls who accused the
townsfolk of witchcraft. In this essay the circumstances behind the ergot poisoning theory
for this historical event are described. When the evidence is weighed carefully both pro
and con, it seems unlikely that ergotism explains much of what went on in colonial
Salem.
The New England Puritans formed an insular society and intensively enforced their
theocratic way of life. The autumn of 1691 was not a good harvest year for them. The
previous winter had been cold. Then a wet, warm planting season was followed by a hot,
stormy summer. A failed harvest had forced Salem villagers to turn to rye grain to make
their bread. Thomas Putnam, a well-regarded and prosperous Salem farmer whose
swampy land supplied much of the colony's rye flour, donated grain regularly to the
Reverend Samuel Parris's household. By October after the poor harvest, 11-year-old
Abigail Williams, the Reverend's niece, was spending time with their 2 Caribbean
servants, Tituba and John Indian, who told hair-raising, yet seductive, voodoo stories to
Abigail and 3 or 4 other 9-17-year-old girls. The girls were soon talking magic; they
started writhing in pain, insensate with convulsive twitching, occasionally accusing
fellow townsfolk of being witches who tormented them.
The Puritans lived in an era of belief in the devil as a physical being who was incarnate,
there to seduce them from the path of righteousness. Bewitching was a generally
recognized phenomenon in the 1600s, both in Europe as well as in Puritan New England.
The devil was an invisible but very real being, whose constant tests and temptations were
to be rebuffed by strict adherence to a set of laws describing behavior and societal order.
The diagnosis of bewitching was both clinical and analytical. Clinically, stages of
bewitching could be described. The "preliminaries" involved intense spirituality, leading
to the onset of fainting and disordered speech. Intensification of symptoms was
associated with visual delusions and hallucinatory confrontation with spectral witches or
"familiars" (the devil presenting himself in animal forms). Occasionally, the symptoms
would wax and wane, interspersed with quiet days of boredom mixed with depression.
Behaviors of a bewitched person frequently included sensations of pricking, pinching, or
burning of the skin; fornication; animal imitation; odd contortions; simulated flying or
diving; paralysis and rigidity; anorexia; the forced consumption of invisible fluids; and
physical assaults or verbal insult
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