Cotton Mather : Provoker Of Catastrophe

It is often difficult to understand the thought process that other people’s might have had many years ago. A college professor and writer, Richard Godbeer attempts to explain the thought process of the people who were involved in witch trials in the year 1692 in his text “How Could They Believe That?”. He often tells students in college and high school that we can relate to how society was in 1692 and how their views on life, and specifically the supernatural forces, are completely justifiable. In this article he explains the social atmosphere, the environment in which the settlers lived in, as well as how thorough the process of persecution was.

American Literature reveals that because of Cotton Mather’s writings there is knowledge of the Salem witchcraft trials in 1692. The research shows that most of the known stories and trials come from Cotton Mather. This essay will describe Cotton Mather, the Salem witchcraft Trials, and an insight on the information provided by Mather.

Cotton Mather was remembered as one of the most influential Puritan ministers of his time. Mather set the moral tone in the colonies and led the charge for 2nd and 3rd generation Puritans to get back to the theological roots of Puritanism that were held by the earlier generation settlers. From an early age much was expected of Mather. He was the son of Increase Mather who had achieved much success as a minister and the President of Harvard. Although Mather didn’t follow in his father’s footsteps as a political leader, or by becoming the president of Harvard, Mather was known for his knack for recording history. By the end of his life he had contributed more than 400 pieces of work on various subjects (Walker,

Cotton Mather exemplified the essence of Puritan beliefs. He was originally from Boston, but he then moved to Salem, Massachusetts where he took the position of a clergyman. Mather authored many works on witchcraft throughout the course of the trials. Through his Puritanical belief, Mather embodied reasoning through faith. He wrote as the quintessential Puritan trying to rid humanity of its ills. These works included On Witchcraft and The Wonders of the Invisible World, as well as many letters he sent to fellow clergy on the subject of witchcraft. In his day, he was considered an authority on witchcraft due to his involvement in the well-publicized Salem Witch Trials.

Many people are aware of the witch hunt that occurred in Salem, Massachusetts in the year 1692, however these same people may not be as familiar with the other witch hunt that also occurred in New England during the same year. Escaping Salem: the other witch hunt of 1692, written by Richard Godbeer, is a historical monograph that reconstructs the, mostly unheard-of witch hunt, that occurred in Stamford, Connecticut. The book also gives its readers insight into the minds of early American citizens. Thus, the theme of Escaping Salem, beside witchcraft, is human nature and Richard Godbeer’s thesis is that humans demonize others before recognizing their own share of human frailty. It is evident that he is biased toward the witches and sympathizes with them. This, of course, is not surprising since they were irrationally punished because of their neighbours unsubstantiated accusations. Richard Godbeer is currently a Professor of History at the University of Miami, who offers courses on a broad range of topics, including sex and gender in early America, witchcraft in colonial New England, religious culture in early America, and the American Revolution. He is also the author of 11 other historical monographs.

I chose to analyze the primary source of “The Wonders of the Invisible World,” written by Cotton Mather. He was born on February 12th of 1663 into a wealthy family of New England Puritan ministers. Cotton Mather started school at the age of twelve at Harvard College. He graduated and chose to become a member of the clergy but was unable to because of a speech impediment. He was able to overcome this however and a number of years later he was ordained in 1685. He became a very revered and influential minister at the time. In addition, he was also considered to be quite progressive in the field of medicine. He also was a renowned writer and published at least 350 written documents. One of these passages was the “The Wonders of the Invisible

In Cotton Mather’s The Wonders of the Invisible World, he explores the evidence presented at the Salem witch trial of Martha Carrier. Mather explains the spectral evidence presented at the trial as strange phenomena worked by the devil, when in reality it is simply the exploitation and fear that brewed underneath the surface colonial America.

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.

In 1692, the world was plagued by the idea that witches roamed freely on Earth. The Witch trials and hunts have long been a sinful way in getting rid of the presumably evil people who lurked in the deepest parts of the Earth. The conviction of witches and witchcraft was prevalent in 1692 in New England, and one of the most fervent strong believers was Cotton Mather who was an honored Boston minister and who wrote several topics on religion. This will explore and illustrate parts of Cotton Mather’s life and how he was the heart of the destruction of people's lives in Salem.

      Cotton Mather, in his The Wonders of the Invisible World, preserved for posterity a very dark period in Puritanical American society through his account of the Salem witch trials in 1692. His description is immediately recognizable as being of the same viewpoint as those who were swept up in the hysteria of the moment. Mather viewed Salem as a battleground between the devil and the Puritans. "The New Englanders are a people of God settled in those which were once the devil's territories. . . . The devil thus irritated, immediately tried all sorts of methods to overturn this poor plantation" (Mather 421). Here Mather is alluding to the Native Americans as being a people

The history of America and Americans hold great victories: Independance as a nation, The Battle of New Orleans, Iwo Jima, etc. It also holds great falls and moments of great weakness: Our Civil War, The Vietnamese War, Large debts owed to China, and my topic of choice, The Salem Witch Trials and the involvement of Cotton Mather, in Salem Village, Massachusetts 1692. This case in particular might just be the most popular recorded case of mass hysteria in our history although was recognized as a serious problem punishable by death and influenced by people held to a high religious standard like Cotton Mather, as opposed to what it actually was - “The airborne mental

The witchcraft crisis through colonial New England is visualized through the work of Mary Beth Norton and Carol F. Karlsen. The scholars demonstrate deep understanding in the subject, and both present valid information through their overall theses. In order to understand the complete story of witchery in the seventeenth-century, these two books intrigue the reader in what the authors want to present. Although, their research seems bias, both historians similarly delve into the topic with an open mind, and successfully uncover information that has not be presented before. Not only does Norton’s In the Devil’s Snare and Karlsen’s The Devil in the Shape of a Woman both represent the study of witchcraft through feminist ideals, Karlsen’s

The central issue at stake for people during the Salem witch trials were a series of hearing and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft. It all started in Salem Village, in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. A man by the name of Richard Godbeer, the author of “The Salem Witch Hunt” and several other books is a professor at the University of Miami. Godbeer’s research and teaching interests center on colonial and revolutionary America. Also, his fields of interest are in gender, sex, witchcraft and religious culture.

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

As an educated Harvard graduate and intelligent man Cotton Mather published hundreds of books to provide solid evidence as to what led to the Salem Witch Trials and was known as one of the most influential Puritan ministers of his time. Regardless, his involvement with the Salem witch trials and his peculiar analyses concerning the craft and actions of Satan gained him a significant number of followers around the 1690’s when the witch trials occurred. Remarkably, he received support from the judges and several of the ministers during the time of the trials occurrence due to his establishment as a well-known preacher but also his book Memorable Providences Mather wrote on his account with the Goodwin children. These children according to Mather’s account were disturbed by the Devil from a bewitchment. (Walker 2001)