Analysis of The Wonders of the Invisible World

Like his father before him, Cotton Mather took position as a pastor of the Second Church of Boston where he remained connected with that church from 1685, when he was ordained, until his death forty-three years later. It was mainly by his remorseless writing that he became one of the most notable of all New England Puritan ministers. Today Mather is often thought of as unsympathetic because of his part in the Salem witchcraft trials. Although he did not approve of all the trials, he had helped to stir up the wave of frantic fear by his Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcraft and Possessions. Later he further pursued his inquiries into satanic possession with “Wonders of the Invisible World.”

For its witnesses, the Salem Witch Trials confirmed the reality of the invisible world of spirits. The catalyst was described as a man who had an interest in the actions of Satan. That man is Cotton Mather. Mather was born into a family of ministers, including Reverend John Cotton. Mather preached his first sermon as a teenager and was ordained in his early twenties. Cotton Mather is known for his unnecessary involvement with the Salem Witch Trials. With the assistance of Cotton Mather’s novel, The Wonders of the Invisible World, the reader assumes Mather’s role in the witch hunt was excessive due to the result of his involvement. In his article, “An Unholy Mess,” Anthony Brandt argues that Cotton Mather’s contribution to society is greater than his infamous reputation. Also, according to Anthony Brandt, Mather’s influence in the world is larger than the Salem Witch Trials. Despite Anthony Brandt’s argument, Cotton Mather’s infamous reputation as a false prophet ultimately provoked the Salem Trials.

“Antarctic penguins detect the precise call of their chicks among the 150,000 families in the nesting site” (Christin 96). If only it were this easy to know who you were talking to online. This leads me to Peter Singer’s “Visible Man: Ethics in a World Without Secrets” which he explains that being watched through surveillance increases our morals. And Brian Christians “Authenticating” discusses the importance of artificial intelligence and what makes us human. Both of the articles listed describes how technology continues to transform into a more modern web and gives the citizens, who use it, less security, which results in chaos within the government and society. Consequently, new technology does not make it harder to be

In this document, he depicts the evil spirits as being actually real entities and then tries to justify the horrible acts of cruelty during the trials because of them. He states with a genuine feeling that, “these our poor Afflicted Neighbors quickly after they become Infected and Infested with these Demons, arrive to a Capacity of Discerning those which they conceive the Shapes of their Troublers; and notwithstanding the Great and Just Suspicion, that the Demons might impose the Shapes of Innocent Persons in their Spectral Exhibitions upon the Sufferers.” He starts off saying that the reason the Devil is angry with his people is that they have encroached unto his lands. That this new world is so unforgiving in nature that it is alike to that of the Devil. Mather states that these lands, “were once the Devil’s Territories; and it may easily be supposed that the Devil was exceedingly disturbed.” He says this to justify the reason why the Devil is angry with the people. Mather’s quote not only claims that the New Englanders of this area are in fact people of God, but more importantly that they are located deep in the Devil’s territory and that the Devil is very displeased these people loyal to Jesus Christ and Christianity.

Before the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era, women were meant to remain in the household and do all the work there. They were supposed to take raise the children, maintain the house, support the husband, and be overall dependent on men. Women did not often work outside of their homes nor did they have any real independence to say or do whatever they pleased. For the most part, women were very dependent on men for most things in their lives. Women were meant to be meek,

After 1815, the female was viewed in a more respectful persona in society. Women’s rights were beginning to grow. They were helping more in religious growth, and helping in the abolition of slavery. “On every principle of natural justice, as well as by the nature of our institutions, she is as fully entitled as man to vote and to be eligible to office.” (Document F). Many females were involved in the growth of religion, including the Second Great Awakening. With the females being the ones who take the children to church, they were prone to having a deeper belief for their religion. And with that, they would try to inspire religious growth. The Second Great Awakening spurred reform, prison, church, temperance, abolition, women’s rights, and Christianizing Indians. With women fighting for what they believe in, the women were finding themselves to have a new found respect; from both themselves and men. Document E illustrates this by females walking down a street with a sense of confidence.

The reason why these two documents were chosen was because of my beliefs in witches, and my interest in the contradiction between good versus evil. Also, another reason why this subject was chosen was because I have study the Salem witch trials back in high school, so I already knew something about the subject matter. The theme that connects both “Insufficiency of Evidence Against Witches” and “Wonder of the Invisible World” is that both Increase and Cotton Mather were both puritan ministers that participated in the Salem witch trials. In addition, both father and son had different views on how the trials should be handled.

One of the most changes was the "new look" for young women. The Flapper Era entered America. Ladies did the unthinkable in cutting their long hair to chin length bobs, smoking, wearing shorter dresses and even engaging in premarital sex. Traditional women were horrified at these loose morals and daring behavior. They pushed to stop the women reformers who pushed for legalized birth control. They spoke against the sensual behavior of young women. At this time marriage decreased and divorce increased because women became more independent

The place of women changed drastically during the nineteenth century. Many factors such as the market revolution and the second great awakening impacted the way they were in the family, at work, and society. The role of women changed in a way that they were treated differently not just by society but in the house as well. They were beginning to be noticed and they fought to be independent from men, which took a long time to achieve, but they did it. Women believed they were just as able as men to work and be able to vote which is also one of the big differences during this time.

During the early 1900s the Puritans and Quakers were two of the most common religions in America. The Puritans were known for trying to keep their community as close to their beliefs as possible. That meant their laws came from the bible and that if they were broken then there were to be serious consequences. They also believed in witches and other supernatural beings at this time; this is why they had the Salem witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. At this time women were still seen as weak and inferior to the men of the day so they didn’t have many rights.

During this time, society acted against women. Women weren’t allowed to hold a political office, nor were they allowed to vote. In addition, they were virtually submissive to their husbands because they couldn’t do anything without their husbands’ permission. Also, women didn’t have as much freedom when it came to choosing a profession (most ended up being teachers or writers). “The legal status of women was essentially that of a white child or black slave” (Hippocampus). Many women began to notice what little rights they had. Margaret Fuller, a transcendentalist and the editor of The Dial, wrote, in Woman in the Nineteenth Century, about how women were beginning to question what they truly needed in life, and why they didn’t have it. The first American feminist movement soon came underway.

The Salem Witch Trials affected the city greatly and caused a division between the people. Cotton Mather wanted to do something right for the city; he wanted to restore all that was lost. He hoped that by his book could bring a stronger unity to the community. In doing so, he shined the light on the people about the devil and his existence to truly kill, steal, and destroy. The people needed to recognize how disturbed and displeased the devil was once they arrived to this land. Mather stressed on the fact that the devil was making sure any form of religious beliefs of groups didn’t threaten his territory. Therefore, Satan began a battle with the people of New England and Mather wanted to inform them about the wicked spirit that was roaming

Let us first start by evaluating a writing related to the events described above, The Wonders of the Invisible World. In this publication, Mather makes many references to accounts of eyewitness testimonies and confessions of the accused; not only to justify, but also to prove that the Salem witchtrials were a God sanctioned attack against Satanic works. Mather says, “He (the devil) has wanted incarnate legions to persecute us, as the people of God have in the other hemisphere been persecuted: he (the devil) has therefore drawn upon his more spiritual ones to make an attack upon us.” (2) Mather’s use of the term “spiritual ones,” is meant to represent the accused witches of the time. Witches, Mather believes, are the work of the devil. Throughout this writing Mather quotes from the Bible. Mather knows that the people of his church would not dare question the validity of the Bible. So, by choosing specific verses that favor the intended goal of his writings he is able to add rock solid validity to the statements he is making to the members of his church. References to past situations illustrated in the Bible prove to Mathers’ audience that these

The author of this particular excerpt was none other than Cotton Mather who lived in Salem Massachusetts, a small village 20 miles north of Boston.During this time the accounts and turmoil within the community was at an all-time high. The conspiracy that there were pacts being made with the devil and that witches were a grave threat , are revealed to us today through the accounts of writers like Cotton Mather’s being notable within the New England Colonies during early colonization.

This story again reinforces the severity of defying the supernatural, and the strong belief the puritans held in the actuality of a figurative God and Devil. This story repercussions the idea that there is nowhere to hide from these supernatural powers.