Salem – American History to 1877

February 12, 2014

Witch Craft and Religion

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In Taylor’s chapter about religion and the colonies, he describes the religious revival that took place during this time period. When first learning American history when I was younger, I was taught that Europeans came over for religious freedom, far away from the Church of England and the monarchy. Taylor points out this misconception in the beginning of his chapter, as it was only some colonists that wanted religious freedom. Many colonists observed their respective religions and attended church on a weekly basis. Especially in New England, which as Taylor says, “struck visitors as the most conspicuously devout and religious homogenous region in British North America” (340). The readings on the Salem Witch Trials also capitalize on this highly religious area in the colonies, as well as also dispel myths about these trials.

Like the idea about religious freedom, from a young age I was taught that the Salem Witch Trials persecuted women for being involved with the devil and witchcraft. But like most people, one always asks, how were they persecuted and why were they persecuted? As Elizabeth Reis talks about these frequently asks questions. It was interesting to see the differences between how men and women were treated in this Puritan area. Women were most often persecuted as witches due to their confession, because they were most likely to confess to sinning and being in a covenant with the devil, whereas men would brush off their sins as things that can be changed later.

In his blog post, Mike discusses the Salem Witch trials and the gender roles associated with them. Mike points out how women have always been a social stigma that women are weak, and men were considered strong due to their ability to get rid of the devil. This point is extremely interesting to me, as I never though about the witch trials being a gender divided event.

February 12, 2014

Sensationalism in Salem and Misrepresenting History

Woodward’s exposition on the “Other Witch Hunt” in Hartford does a great job of expanding the commonly held belief that the Salem witch trials are the only and most important of the commonly misunderstood religious dynamic in the New England area. He argues, and quite successfully I believe, that the sensationalism around the Salem trials both through popular imagery as a previous post suggests, but also in the teaching curriculum throughout schools does a disservice to understanding the roots behind the actions of the colonists. It has become so popularized that the other examples of Witch Hunting and vigorous religious prosecution throughout the New England Colonies have become subverted by common thought. The Salem trials, Woodward argues, are a unique experience and create a misinterpretation of the beliefs, social experiences and events that created the situation for witch trials to exist.

In Hartford, there seemed to be a slight dichotomy of beliefs between the common people, the religious accusers and the governor, John Winthrop Junior. The Governor was a doctor who was in charge of adjudicating cases and also, as a doctor, the individual who determined causes for the physical symptoms which many times were blamed on Witchcraft. The judge for most of the cases, he would not allow for an accused “witch” to be put to death on these charges. He established a legal precedent for which to judge other trials and even presided over annulments or reversals of charges that were charged by veracious citizens. The Governor’s training in the sciences and the “magic” of the time (astrology and alchemy), this presents an interesting dichotomy between religion in science. It also shows that the sensationalism of the events in Salem do not always reflect the reality.

There was a “managerial skepticism” in the ruling elites with witch trials, as Woodward points out, only after a long history of eagerness to put accused witches to the gallows. It was not and did not have to be a religious fanaticism and inability to explain natural events that drove the populace into a prosecution and killing frenzy. Only much later was there any intercession, which is not necessarily relevant in the Salem trials and especially not in the popularization of witch trials in modern media and even education. There was a long history of Witch hunts that carried on similarly to Salem’s well before Salem received the reputation it did, and the singular approach of Witch Trial History and religious fanaticism on New England through the eyes of Salem alone hinders our understanding of all the forces at play which led to such an event occurring.

February 12, 2014

Witchcraft in New England

I think “Witchcraft in the Anglo-American Colonies” hit the nail on the head when it stated that the meaning of the witch trials in Salem and much of New England gets lost now do to pop culture characters like the Wicked Witch of the West or Sabrina the Teenage Witch. But what the article goes on to argue is that the witch trials were an important illustration of society and its faults. Living in such close quarters, there were more property disputes and neighborhood fighting, and it was easy to win the fight if you accused your nemesis of being a witch. Also without a clear understanding of the sciences, weather and illness at inopportune times did not have a better explanation that the workings of a witch. Because if the Puritans were God’s people, then only the devil would be the one harming them.

It also illustrates gender roles in New England Society. It goes all the way back to Eve eating the forbidden fruit, during that time society thought women were more prone to making deals with the devil. And these women would admit to it more often than you would think. The punishment for admitting it was rarely death, because they still thought you were strong enough to kick the devil out, where denying it could be a sign the devil has taken over. Women would also admit it because they honestly thought they were a witch, confusing there everyday sin with the devil’s work.

Walter Woodward’s article makes the point of how this problem wasn’t isolated to Salem, but a New England Problem. Witchcraft was deeply entrenched in the culture, and the ministers and magistrates in power were believers. For instance, Governor John Winthrop led his own witch trials in Connecticut. There were also the natives who practiced witchcraft, and had a strong belief in spells and curses. However the natives did not have a gender bias when it came to witchcraft, which I thought was an interesting societal difference that I did not really expect.

As Kurt points out in his post, this kind of crazy fundamentalism made people disillusioned with sects like Puritanism and led to more religious toleration and the “Great Awakening Movement.” I also agree with Thomas, that the use of things like witchcraft were ways to keep the current power structure in line, and keep the ministers and magistrates at the top of the hierarchy.