The Urban Legend of a Witch in Maryland Essay

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.

Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials. Marc Aronson. (New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, November 1, 2003. 272.)

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

In New England Puritan ideas of gender dictated acts of gender for women in terms of behavior, demeanor, and speech at home and church, in public and private. Gender roles were clearly defined and categorized women as the weaker, vulnerable sex; physically, emotionally, spiritually and morally, subordinate to men in every instance and venue. Men were the heads of the household and of the church. They ruled what were deemed the important aspects of life. Women's role in society was that of domestic; they owned no property, made no significant wage and were entirely dependent on men for their subsistence. While the primary tenants underlying the American Puritan doctrine of the 17th century stated that women were no more susceptible to

The purpose of this book was to examine the history and social life of Salem Village to try to figure out what was the cause of the events that occurred there. I believe that the authors achieved their objective at least they did to me. Boyer and Nissenbaum's explanation for the outbreak of witchcraft accusations in Salem hinges on an understanding of the economic,

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

Witchcraft is the use of magical powers. Witchcraft is often regarded as “black” magic. The article called “The Salem Witch Trials: 1692-1693” states that “[s]ince the early fifteenth century, so-called witch panics had periodically swept across Europe, causing witch hunts, accusations, trials and executions” (“Salem” 1). Although some children and males were accused, the greater part of the arraigned individuals were female (“Salem” 1). A debatable amount of around forty thousand individuals were implicated and executed as witches between fourteen hundred and seventeen hundred and fifty (“Salem” 1). Although the causes of the witchcraft hysteria are debatable, there are three widespread and favored explanations for the hysteria within

Puritan Societal gender biases against women prompted what was called the "Witch Trials". Some trials took place in Europe around the same time, but my focus is about the trials that took place in Early America in New England. History notes these areas to be mostly in Hartford, Fairfield, and Salem. The latter being the most infamous and the most published. Although the question has been asked many times, there has not been a definite answer on Why did the trials take place? What happened to cause this phenomenon? There were several factors involving bias such as socioeconomic, historical, psychological and religious factors, but most notable were the gender biases that was evident. With all of these underlying influences, it was apparent that the one common link was women and the varying roles that they played during this time. Documented research states that approximately 78% of those accused were women (Karlsen, 1987) and similarly those who were executed were a high percentage of women.

History shows the remarkable things that society has done over the years, it also shows where society failed and mistakes were made. This is the case of the Salem Witch Trials. The people of Salem experienced an event that would change them and the course of this country forever. The mass hysteria and rampant paranoia that swept New England in 1692, is what turned neighbor against neighbor. The Salem villagers would accuse one another of casting spells, consorting with the devil, and being witches, all of which was a punishable crime in the 17th century. ("Search")

During the 1600’s there were many opinions and lifestyle changes because of witches, this time period is slightly before and during the Salem Witch Trials. In any group of people with large numbers, there are always going to be outcast, whether it’s just a birthmark or a personality tweak. That’s just life. Well in the 1600’s if you were born with red hair and freckles and both ur parents were brunette and brown eyes, then you were considered and outcast and possibly even referred to as a witch. If you were socially awkward in any way or any kind of a social outcast then you would fall into the category of a witchcraft person. If accused of being a with many things were possible to happen, killed banished. Neither are very good alternatives but it is a choice. Most people think of a witch as an older women with a huge wart, tall black hat, and riding on a broom. However this is not

A good example was with Adam and Eve being punished for the sin of pride,

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

Witchcraft accusations and trials in 1692 rocked the colony of Salem Massachusetts. There are some different views that are offered concerning why neighbors decided to condemn the people around them as witches and why they did what they did to one another. Carol Karlsen in her book The Devil in the Shape of a Woman and Bernard Rosenthal in Salem Story give several factors, ranging from woman hunting to shear malice, that help explain why the Salem trials took place and why they reached the magnitude that they did. The theories put fourth by Karlsen of a society that accusations against women as witches explain the trail, and Rosenthals ideas of discourse in the community are supported or partially disproved by

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.

I chose to read In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 for my book review. I chose this book because I have always been fascinated with the Salem Witch Trials and I wanted to learn more information about the trials. The author of this book was Mary Beth Norton, Norton is a professor at Cornell University and from reading her biography on the Cornell website I could tell that she was well versed in the Salem Witch Trials. Norton wrote In the Devil’s Snare in 2002; in the book’s introduction Norton states that her narrative “builds on the research and interpretations advanced in prior works on Salem; at the same time it disagrees with many aspects of those interpretations.” Norton also goes into detail to explain the