Salem Narrative

Salem Village was one of many non-urban inhabitants. They were looked upon as country folk because of their interests and beliefs in the church and growing tobacco to survive in this new land. There was not much for children to do except go to church, work on the fields, or go to school. You can imagine how bored these children can get. In such a secluded lifestyle as this, you would be a crazy person if you were at all different, and this episode would be so different that it would be traumatic to the people of this small village. Traumatic as it was, I believe the people just did not know how to react in such a situation.

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.

In Richard GodBeers novel “Escaping Salem: The Other Witch Hunt of 1692” he tells of a witch trial that took place in Stamford Connecticut in 1692. GodBeer starts readers off with the setting taking place in Daniel and Abigail Wescots household. He tells of a dilemma going on in the household pertaining to their servant; Katherine Branch. She was experiencing hallucinated fits that caused her to convulse and scream in pain. The ongoing fits led the Wescot’s and other citizens of Stamford into believing the fits were caused by bewitchment. The suspicion then leads Katherine Branch to tell of visitations from the devil in numerous forms, as well as being tormented by witches. She accuses Elizabeth Clawson, Mercy Disborough, Goody Miller, Mary Staples, and Hannah Harvey as the individuals visiting her and tormenting her in her hallucinations. The accusation then led to a witch hunt trial resulting in the arrestment of all the women Katherine had named. Kate’s accusations led citizens of Stamford to agree with her statements due to past confrontations with any of the accused individuals. The trial resulted in all women being found innocent or given their freedom due to insufficient evidence. The witch hunt trial of Stamford Connecticut corresponded with the infamous witch hunt that took place in Salem Massachusetts in the year 1692. Salem’s trial was ignited by a group of girls whom also fell into convulsions and fits just as

Salem was a city of Christian puritans. Between 40 – 60 percent of the women ranging from 15-44 years of age were unmarried, widows, spinsters, and midwives in the 16th century. All them were in danger of being accused because of either their lifestyle or practices represented as a threat to the church, traditional family structure or the normal status quo of male domination. Salem village was a very religious and form close bonds between each other.

When considering possible explanations for the Salem witch trials, it is important to consider and reference other historical accounts of witchcraft. Although Salem presents its own unique case, and therefore is a result of things specific singularly to Salem, there may yet be a link to other cases of witchcraft. Cases may differ in religion, denomination, or other spiritual beliefs, and social setting. Additionally, a study of horticulture in the Salem area shows that hallucinogenic mushrooms may have contributed to the visions of witches. However, I have discovered in my studies that in most cases, there seems to be growing discontentment in each community before and during accusations of witchcraft. This is the clearest link between all cases. In my opinion, witchcraft is a result of suppressed feelings caused by human suffering. This is displayed as accusers in a community using witchcraft as an excuse to release tension, or rid themselves of enemies.

Salem was divided geographically and politically into Salem town the sea port and Salem village a small farming community. The Salem village's struggled for power; one led by the porter family advocating close ties with the town, another group led by the Putnam family fighting for independence. A Sinister pattern began to emerge, many of the accusers belonged to the Putnam faction, many of the accused girls were a part of the Porter faction. Five of the nine accusing girls reside at Thomas Putnam and Samuel Parris. A total of eight members of the Putnam clan help sentence nearly fifty accused witches. All of the accusing girls had direct links to the household of Rev.Parris who testified against ten accused witches.

Have you ever been wrongly accused of something and get in trouble for it? Have you ever wrongly accused somebody because you were mad at them? This is what occurred in Salem Village, Massachusetts during 1692. These erroneous accusations, according to Document A, led to the hanging of 19 people, and the crushing of another. But what caused the accusations? According to An Unsolved Crime: The Salem Witch Trials, the hardships the villagers endured, teenage boredom, and the Puritans strict religion were the causes of the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria. .

There are many characters to blame in The Crucible for the umpteen deaths of the innocent people who were hanged because of an enormous rumor going around Salem. Characters like John Proctor, who had an affair with Abigail, can easily be targeted as the antagonist. If Proctor was faithful to his wife, Elizabeth, the drama would not arise. He, however, had an affair with Abigail, who instantaneously fell in love with him and was desperate for his attention, which resulted in her wanting to get rid of his wife so that she can have him to herself. Proctor committed adultery, therefore he is an evident suspect. Additionally, Danforth can easily be blamed for all the chaos, as well. Danforth was very gullible and naïve, he constantly believed the hysterical acts Abigail and her friends kept displaying. As biased as he tried not to be, Danforth was power hungry and would not listen to the words of others, such as those of Reverend Hale or John Proctor, about the girls suppressing the truth and accusing others of witchcraft. Abigail’s group of friends is another important factor which added to the numerous deaths of the faultless residents of Salem. Her friends constantly followed her around, mimicking her actions and obeying her orders. They listened to everything she said, therefore the truth of what truly went on in the woods never escaped. Despite the fact that all these people could have clearly been accused of witchcraft and hanged, Abigail bears the ultimate responsibility

The myth that I have chosen is the Salem witch trials of 1692 that was assumed to have burned witches to death at a stake. As indicated by History (2011), "The well-known Salem witch trials began amid the spring of 1692, after a gathering of girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, asserted to be controlled by the demon and blamed a few nearby young women for witchcraft." The general population from Salem were truly religious followers and trusted that the devil could give certain individuals powers of a witch. Since the group had such deep religious convictions they considered this matter important. Numerous individuals were blamed for witchcraft and were executed. The honesty of it all is that the witches were put to death by hanging and by

Whewwww! The wind whistles along Gallows Hill waiting for its next victim that will be condemned as a servant of the Devil. This was the Salem Witch trials, which happened in 1692 through 1693, were a series of court trials and executions of people that were thought to be practicing witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. These trials were very tragic and most often an innocent person was accused of the crime. The Salem Witch Trials included a cause that started it, different ways that people were convicted, specific women who were accused, and finally it ended in 1693. Most people think the Salem Witch Trials were just another event that happened in history. But what really happened during the Salem Witch Trials?

Only surpassed by ministers as the most respected profession, magistrates wielded tremendous power in New England. Hand-in-hand with that power came the understanding that they would preserve the puritanical doctrine of the colonists. In the quest to maintain the purity of the colony, haste sometimes led to improper judgments, and the courts infrequently convicted those who were innocent in an effort to maintain the sanctity of the province. This situation manifests itself in Salem, where, in order to further their own personal desires to continue the trials and free Salem, the judges and prosecutors prefer to preserve their own veneer of authority over administering justice, rely on unreliable and easily manipulative witnesses, and fail

LeAnn Struckman paper’s thesis is that the Puritan community, the weather, political events, and illnesses that were happening to the Salem region led to the Salem witch trial. This is supported by looking at the Puritan community and establishing the context behind the event. The paper starts by looking at the importance of the Massachusetts Bay Charter. This gave them the right to establish a colony in the New England area and the protections that came with it. The Puritans believed and desired to create an ideal society in the New World that England would want to emulate. The paper claims that the Puritans believed that the church and state should not be separate, which made their Puritan religious doctrines flow over into their government. This influences the role of the church and its membership. The Puritans believed in a strict system to gain membership of the church. Church membership carried over into the governance of the state and certain political rights like voting. The following generations were not as involved with the church and membership soon declined as they were unable to meet the strict standards. This decline created tension within the church, which created the need for reforming the standards of membership. However, with the change in membership there still was tension between the Puritans.

The Salem Witch Trials began during the spring of 1692 after a group of young girls in Salem Village, MA, said they were being possessed by the devil and accused local women of witchcraft. With chaos running around the village, the special court began taking on cases. Bridget Bishop, the first convicted witch, was hung that June month. Many people of the Salem community had major consequences including death and harrassment. Belief that the devil could give certain humans, or witches, power to harm others in return for their loyalty emerged throughout europe as early as the 14th century. All of this chaos and phenomenon led to a pointing fingers game of who is guilty. Chaos also brought up the question of why it happened, malice, spite, or

The book I have chosen to write about is “The Salem Witch Trials: A Day by Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege” written by Marilynne K. Roach and published in 2002. Marilynne K. Roach is the president of the Historical Society of Watertown and a member of the Watertown Historical Commission board, she also is an active board member and a curator of the Salem Witch Museum. She has multiple books that have been published about the Salem and the trials that occurred in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. She also holds a fine arts degree from the Massachusetts College of Art. Roach spent 20 years researching archival collections, and discovered that many recent books on the subject are either inaccurate or unsubstantiated about the trials. A lot of the information found in other books relating the trials from different authors use quotes from her works and they also use her as a reference/ source because of her profound studies on the subject along with her active role in the community and with the museum. Emerson W. Baker explained how important Roach’s book was to his research for his own book, “A Storm of Witchcraft”, stating: “I am in awe of her work, and as I have told her – I never could have written my book without her day by day chronicle.” “All lives are stories, and history is made of stories”-MKR, this quote makes you think that you of what you’ve done in and with your life and if it will have an impact alongside our history books.

It was a cold dark wintery night in Salem Mass. Titubia could feel the wind bellow through the cabin as she gently rocked the baby in front of the fireplace. Two older children sat by her feet listening to a wild tale.