Have you ever wonder where the descendants of historically famous people are? In How to Hang a Witch by Adrian Mather, a descendant of Cotton Mather tackles the effect of Salem witch trial more than 300 years after it took place. In the book, Samantha Mather was a direct descendant of the men responsible for spreading fear of witchcraft. Her stepmom had forced her to move back to her dead grandma house in Salem, Massachusetts from New Cork city, because of the expensive medical bill for his dad coma. Upon arrival to the place her father had tried to escape, Samantha was greeted by overly friendly neighbors, whom her stepmom doesn’t trust. After several strange things happening, she met an angry spirit, whom the house used to belong to. To …show more content…
In this case, the teacher was also somewhat of an accomplice as they did not help Samatha but also humiliated her. I have witnessed bullying, but I didn’t really say anything. I was scared, I don’t want to become the next target. When I read this book I realized how bad it could have gotten.
One thing I don’t like is how the authors, on one hand, is saying witchcraft is a fear of somebody being different, while on the other hand having the main character doing magic and mixing potion. I find it missing the point because Witchcraft is supposing to symbolize people fearing the unknown. However, I feel Ms. Adriana Mather is validating witchcraft is real, therefore making all the accusation of witchcrafts possible instead of complete nonsense. I am not denying or supporting witchcraft is real, but I think the author is giving contradicting points. One point is witchcraft is all in people’s head, while the other one is magic is real.
A very important concept in the story don't judge people by their outside, people have experience that shapes their response and action. It's important to think in other people’s shoe. When we look at somebody when can see what they look like, what they are wearing, what is their posture, and maybe scars. However, everybody has a story to tell, often these experience are not visible on the surface. That’s why it's important to give them a chance. For example, the main character, Samantha was judged harshly upon arrival by
New England in the seventeenth century was a difficult place to live. The raging winds of winter, the ravaging Indian tribes and the many diseases that killed both livestock and family members often had inhabitants believing that they were being punished by God for their sins, or that their afflictions were caused by something much more sinister. Anyone who threatened traditional gender and societal roles was seen as a potential threat to both themselves and the rest of the community. The outbreaks of witch accusations that occurred throughout New England during this time reflected how unsettled the settlers really felt about their lives. This is reflected in both the Salem, Massachusetts witch trials and the Stamford, Connecticut witch trials even if these trials had different results.
From 1692 to 1693, twenty people were executed after being accused of witchcraft in Salem Village, Massachusetts, many more died in jail, and around 200 people total were accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. Records from the event indicate that the Salem Witch Trials started when a group of young girls began acting strange, claiming they had been possessed by the Devil and bewitched by local villagers. The Salem Witch Trials is a much debated event; historians argue over the motivation and causes behind the trials and executions, not over the proceedings. Each historian approached the Salem Witch Trials with their own brand of logic and interpretation building off of and criticizing the interpretations of their predecessors. No one historical theory can conclusively explain the cause of the Salem Witch Trials because there were too many variables and motivations among the villagers. These historians used the best of their abilities to examine the events of the Salem Witch Trials and the mere fact that there are so many interpretations means there are not certainties when it comes to this historical event. However, a combination of their theories could provide a better picture of the Salem Witch story and the many aspects in determining the outcome of the Salem Witch Trials.
To learn more about the Salem witchcraft hysteria, Historian Paul Boyer, and Professor Stephen Nissenbaum sought to further understand the accusations of witchcraft. During the late 1600’s life in colonial New England was one led by religion and politics. Salem was broken up into two factions, Salem Village, and Salem Town. Salem Village, which was led by the Putnam family was a rapidly growing
The Salem Witch Trials was a very dark period in our history that occurred in the colony of Salem, Massachusetts. These trials began in February 1692 and ended in May of 1693. There were over two hundred individuals who were accused of practicing witchcraft. Of those two hundred accused, nearly twenty innocent souls were lost. This was one of the most severe cases of mass hysteria in recorded history. There was a great effort exhorted by the Massachusetts General Court to declare a guilty verdict, that the framers of the United States Constitution went to great lengths to never let this type of tragedy occur again; commonly known as the eighth amendment. Remarkably so, some may argue that there were similarities in Salem and the
The Salem Witch Trials were controversial events in history. Many people are to blame for the confusion caused by this horrific event. For puritan colonists, such as the magistrates of the time, if something could not be explained scientifically then it was immediately blamed on the supernatural. While there were many symptoms that could be logically explained there was a number of unexplained circumstances of the afflicted such as babbling in an unidentifiable language and crawling under furniture. A multitude of individuals have varying ideas toward The Salem Witch Trials that are brought to life from a number of myths; some people believed that all the victims were female, some people thought that all the panic and chaos took place in Salem, and it has been said that superstition was the driving force.
humanity would have come to an end, but that was not so. In 1692 a
Elizabeth Bassett was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, some 5 miles away from Salem. Her official birth date happens to be unknown. However, it is believed she was born sometime around 1650. It is also known that she was the first child of twelve born to William Bassett and Sarah Burt Bassett. William Bassett, survived so much: his father’s demise, being brought to America, and wars against Indians. Only then did he live to see his children, the third generation, destroyed by the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria of 1692. “Three of William and Sarah’s twelve children were touched by the Salem Witch Hysteria prosecution” (“Bassett Family Genealogy” 6). Additionally, Elizabeth’s grandmother, Ann Holland Bassett Burt, was a Quaker, a midwife and an accused witch.
The largest outbreak of witchcraft in America took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. A group of girls, including the Parris’s Indian slave Tituba, gathered in the Salem village and were attempting to see the future by decoding “messages”. Shortly after this gathering the girls started showing signs of the possessed (pg. 73). To this day people all over America are still amazed with the events that took place in this time. But why is that? The fear of the village fell heavily onto the judicial system, which later made people focus on the proper separation of government and religious beliefs. Mass hysteria broke out amongst the village and many people were being accused, therefore leading to many innocent deaths. Although there could be many theories as to the reason the witch trials in Salem began, there are two points of view that are very commonly shared amongst people. Some believe that the Salem witch trials were women unconsciously searching for power, whereas others believe it was an encephalitis epidemic.
During the time period of 1691 to 1692 the town of Salem, a small thriving community within the Puritan Massachusetts Bay colony, was struck by widespread hysteria in the form of witch trials. The way these trials and accusations played out are historically unlike any other witch trials found in European and American history. Historians have pointed to a number of economic, political, and social changes of the then existing institutions throughout the Massachusetts Bay area to be the cause of the Salem witch trials, along with the direction they took. If studied closely however, it becomes apparent that the main cause for the Salem witch trials can be found in the way the people of Salem viewed and
In the town of Salem, Massachusetts 1692, the government is a theocracy—rule by God through religious officials. The Salem Witch Trials take place here. The people of Salem, were very religious. They go to church every week, obey the commandments, never play with the devil, and witchcraft. If you did not obey these commandments people thought you were a bad Christian. If you broke these commandments there were major consequences. Church and working takes up most of the people's time.
“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live”. In 1692, in Salem Massachusetts, puritans believed that witches existed and because of this belief twenty innocent people were sent to their death. The puritans believed every single word of the bible. There were at least three causes of the Salem Witch Trial Histeria of 1692, One reason was gender, age and marital status. Another reason is girls lying, jealousy.
There was a time when the Salem Witch Trials were going on. Which seems pretty crazy. The whole reason the Salem Witch Trials were going on was because these girls were dancing in the forest and they got nervous after they had been caught. So they thought it was in their best interest to lie about everything. All they did was lie, and everyone around them instantly believed them. All of the people accused of witchcraft were only trying to tell the truth, which was they were all innocent. Even though they all told the truth they all paid for their actions. John Proctor paid for not only his actions, but his wife Elizabeth Proctor’s actions as well.
Salem Witch Trials: Casting a spell on the people Today, the idea of seeing a witch is almost inconsequential. Our Halloween holiday marks a celebration in which many will adorn themselves with pointy black hats and long stringy hair, and most will embrace them as comical and festive. Even the contemporary witchcraft religious groups forming are being accepted with less criticism. More recently, the Blair Witch movie craze has brought more fascination than fear to these dark and magical figures. So, it becomes no wonder that when our generations watch movies like the Crucible, a somewhat accurate depiction of the Salem Witch Trials, we are enraged and confused by the injustice and the mayhem that occurred in 1692. For most, our egocentric
I don’t know about you, but for me so far, all of our author’s attempts to get an explanation about what witchcraft is has failed. We know that witchcraft is the cause of misfortunes and personal injury sustained by the Azande people through what they believe to be no fault of their own, but I think we have yet to have any understanding of what causes witchcraft itself. Where does it come from, who causes it, and is it in any way like a sort of karma believed to be punishment for bad deeds like in eastern philosophies? I think we need to take a deeper look into witchcraft and what the Azande people are actually talking about, because from what I’ve gathered so far, the Azande believe that witchcraft is an unexplained phenomena of independent events that in no way should have had any reason to take place simultaneously
By not only proving the existence of witchcraft, but also presenting himself with the role of punishing witches, James VI further places himself in a necessary position in the religious and political hierarchy, asserting his absolute power. When explaining the role of the monarch in the punishment of witches Epistemon states: