Witch Trials – American History to 1877

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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.

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.

Tag: Witch Trials

Witch Craft and Religion

Sensationalism in Salem and Misrepresenting History