Category: Salem Witch Trials

Introduction

“A primitive crystal ball” and the talks about their future beloved – this seemingly naïve and childish pastime of the girls of Salem turned out to be the causal factor of the tragedy that makes the flesh of contemporary generation creep when reading about the nightmare that descended on Massachusetts in 1692. Salem, a village in Massachusetts, and the neighboring towns of Ipswich and Andover suffered a massive outbreak of a witch hunt in 1962 that saw many people tried and convicted of the crime of witchcraft. The fact that deserves mentioning is that the convictions were all based on unfounded accusations of a group of young girls who lived in Salem. The claims of these girls stated that they were suffering witchcraft attacks that made them develop convulsive seizures and act in a weird manner and this led to the belief that there were citizens practicing “malefic witchcraft” in Salem. The arrests started with three women accused: Sara Good, Sara Osborne, and Tituba, but their imprisonment did not mean that the matter was then at an end since “adults as well as children were falling victim to the spell”. As a result of the series of hearings, nineteen inhabitants of Salem and neighboring towns were put to death and more than a hundred of suspected witches were kept in jail but the arrests went on until the intervention of the principal ministers of eastern Massachusetts⁴. The authors state that the Salem witchcraft outbreak has been “the continuing fascination and challenge” for historians since the account of the events arouses much more questions than answers. Nowadays, the practice of witchcraft cannot be considered an acceptable cause of the tragedy of Salem. The event should be analyzed as a multidimensional historic situation caused by a number of factors, such as social, economic, religious, and certainly, gendered. While Boyer and Nissenbaum have presented a deep analysis of the communal and social aspect of Salem witch trials, they have set aside the gendered dimension of the event, though its analysis could have been beneficial.

Boyer and Nissenbaum’s Explanation of the Salem Episode

As it has been mentioned above, Boyer and Nissenbaum attribute the Salem episode to something more than what people perceived it to be. The two paint a picture of other factors that might have contributed to the Salem tragedy. As they offer the account of the pace, status, and geography in Salem trials, they stress the necessity of “a close look at Salem Village before its moment of notoriety”. They include such factors as political and economic situation of the region.

Boyer and Nissenbaum state that there were two geographical namesakes: Salem Village and Salem Town. Salem Village, mainly the farmers, who constituted the greater part of its population, “began to chafe beneath the power which Salem Town held over them and to work for a greater degree of autonomy”. As for Salem Town, it also had its own interest in the matter as it was “a thriving commercial and fishing center” that did not want “to lose control of the rural hinterland” that provided it with tax revenues and food. This “fundamental divergence of interests” and great number of “petitions, resolutions, depositions, and protests” seem to be a valuable reason for the hidden feud between the settlements. The authors never make unsubstantiated statements, for instance, they present the abstracts from petition of the Farmers “for release from the watch” that was granted but followed by accusations of two village dwellers later. The subordinate status of the Salem Village as “a distinct community without its own town government, and a distinct parish without its own church” is described with much detail and the resentment of the villagers seems to be a significant ground for hostility towards the Town. Let us recall that the greater part of the complaints during the trials came from the Salem Village and the greater part of the accused came from Salem Town and the pattern of economic and social causes of the witch trials becomes convincing.

In addition to the external division, there was internal unrest and polarization in the Salem village itself with the proponents of the town and those who adhered to the Village. Boyer and Nisserbaum state that “by late 1691 … the Village has reached the point of total institutional polarization: the church speaking for one group, the Village Committee for another”. The authors also put emphasis on the two families that played an active part in Salem trials, the Putnams, who “were operating at the fringes of power in Salme Town by the 1680’s” and the Porters, “who increasingly moving to its political center by making common cause with the merchant group”. The relationship of these two families can be characterized as “open rivalry in the period immediately prior t the witchcraft outbreak”. Taking into consideration that Ann Putman was one the afflicted girls and the one that gave testimony against twelve people and signed complaints against twenty-four, the analyzed rivalry can be considered on the reasons for the witchcraft outbreak. On the whole, Boyer and Nisserbaum’s explanation of the episode is built on the basis of social, economical, and political causes of the Salem episode.

Discussion of the Evidence That There Was a Gendered Dimension of the Salem Trails

The Salem Trials have been studied from the point of view of different perspectives and if the authors of the analyzed book consider socio-economical reasons, they ignore an aspect that is, by all means, significant too, it is gender issue of the Salem episode. It is commonly known, and the opening chapters of the book prove that the greater part of the accused and convicted people of Salem were women and those male inhabitants, who were accused of witchcraft, were in some relations with the women considered to be witches.

What is more, the whole event unfolded around the young girls who inspired the atrocity thus being in the core of the whole action. The actual reason for their behavior remains unknown but their gender is significant for the present paper, it can be said that women played a significant role in the development of the Salem conflict. What is more, the woman symbolically put an end to the trials, though it was practically done by the governor, but only due to his wife’s, Lady Phips’, accusation of witchcraft.

Gender dimension of the trials were interrelated with the economic factor as well. If the first three women who were accused were outcasts in the community, further charges were mostly directed at middle-aged single women who were economically stable and even owned land thus becoming the rivals of the male part of population. In the Puritan society, women should be totally submissive and dominated by men. However, the trials can be supposed to be the outcome of the breach of this submission. As it has been mentioned earlier, the first three women accused were the outcasts who did not satisfy moral code of Puritan society. The words of Sara Good she shot from the scaffold: “I am no more a witch that you are a wizard, and if you take away my life, God will give you blood to drink”, can hardly be perceived as the words of a submissive woman.

Besides, it becomes clear that the court room has become a place where women were listened to and where their words became influential though they had no power in their men-dominated community. The testimonies during the trials gave them freedom to express themselves, interact with other members of society and release pent-up tension and the emotions. They were bombarded with stress which had no outlet. The women’s convulsing and unexplainable behavior could in a way be linked to this kind of a lifestyle. It could be a way of them telling the community and pointing out that to a deeper overlooked problem in their village setting.

Assessment of the Book

The book under consideration provides a deep and detailed account of the socio-economic situation in Salem Village and Salem Town during the period preceding and the actual period of the witch trials. However, the authors let such important factors and religious and gender factor slip from their field of view. They should be given credit for the thorough investigation of the primary sources (petitions, County Court records, ect.) as they never make unsubstantiated statements. They describe the opposition of the Town and the Village, they offer short biographies of the main actors of the situation (by the way, only male participants are described), they offer maps and table that serve as eloquent proofs of their ideas.

All these merits of the book considered, it should be stated that though the authors ignore gendered aspect of the Salem trials, still, there are some glimpses of the gender-centered ideas. For instance, when describing Joseph Putnam and his brother, the authors tackle Mary Veren Putman, a stepmother, and her impact on the family. However, this outlet for gender dimension of the trails is too poor and the issue should be investigated further.

The Possible Changes in the Book if Gender Dimension Were Taken into Account

In case, if the book were modified so that it could incorporate gendered dimension, it should have presented the norms of Puritan morality in relation to women. It is necessary to analyze the roles attributed to women at that time. It is important to show that a woman was a powerless creature, whose duties were reduced to household chores and upbringing of children while men were the main actors on social and political arena. Boyer and Nissenbaum state that “what was going on was not simply a personal quarrel, an economic dispute, or even a struggle for power, but a moral conflict involving the very nature of the community itself”. This statement can be successfully applied to gendered aspect of the issue. If the court room becomes the final place where a woman can get attention and can be given power, even if it done with the help of false testimony, this is the evident sign of rotten morale in society.

If economic state of the Puritan society has claimed the author’s attention, then they could have traced the economic status of the accused women who were mainly well-off inhabitants of the Village and the Town. Besides, the importance of authority may be analyzed since those accused women who refused to admit their guilt were evidently disobeying the authority.

Taking all the above mentioned things into consideration, it is possible to conclude that the Salem witch trials belong to the painful past, its significance will remain forever and the tragedy can teach us the lesson of the necessity of equality and morality in our society. Boyer and Nissenbaum should be given credit for the authoritative account of the socio-economic reasons for the trails, but they fail to explain why the tragedy became “plaguelike”. The analysis of gendered dimension of the Salem episode can throw light on the past tragedy.

Bibliography

Boyer, Paul, and Stephen Nissenbaum. Salem Possessed. USA: Harvard University Press, 1974.

Witch trials in the new colonies of America were not a unique phenomenon in world history but the events of 1692 in Salem Massachusetts differed in scope and circumstances from in Europe, the origin of the practice. As compared to the thousands of executions that occurred in 16^th through 18^th century Europe, the trials in Salem resulted in 146 arrests and 19 people being put to death. The death toll included 18 women, one man and two dogs that were “hanged for giving young girls the ‘evil eye.’” (Schensul, 1992: t01). This brief and distasteful period of American history was initiated when a group of girls started to act peculiarly. Whether they were somehow ill or the group of friends had decided to play a prank is not confirmable but their convulsive, seemingly synchronized actions sent a wave of panic through the overtly religious citizens of Salem who thought their town was being influenced by evil supernatural forces. The trials in America involved particular political, economic and social implications and arose from an environment of uncertainty and fear.

There were numerous factors in the greater context of world events that had an effect on the outcome of the witch trials. In 1691, drought gripped the New England area of the ‘New World’ and 1692 brought torrential rains and flooding. The superstitious religious societies of the Puritans sought scapegoats to punish for the miseries being suffered. They were acting as ‘God’s agents’ to rid the world of its evilness which they perceived as the root cause of the problems. The citizens of New England had previously abided by the rule of law according to the Massachusetts Magna Charta, but, in 1684, the charter was voided by the English Court at Chancery thereby dissolving the government in Massachusetts (Hilkey, 1910: 160). Additionally, an epidemic of small pox had infiltrated the region and its citizens were in constant conflict with Native American tribes. These conditions along with social transformations regarding Puritan principles exacerbated the existing sentiments of suspicion and fear. The eruption of hysteria concerning witches was brought about by these varying factors in combination with each other although none of which taken separately would have caused this action.

The Puritan ideology included an intense belief that the devil endeavored to tempt Christians from following God’s laws. According to Puritanical beliefs, they are responsible to observe and then eliminate the presence of evil in society. “The problems that the first generations of English settlers had to face could always be seen as divine castigations for sinful behavior, or as the threat of Satan trying to establish his rule on earth” (Luoma, 2005). Puritans were very fervent in their objective of creating and maintaining a spiritually uncontaminated commonwealth and they responded unsympathetically against whatever would, in their perspective, threaten this objective. In this quest for spiritual righteousness and spiritual purity, they exhibited no tolerance for those believed to be witches (Godbeer, 1994: 30). The depth of which the hysteria that infected Salem citizens enough to kill innocent people shows the depth of supernatural belief that permeated the collective conscience of the Puritan colonists. “The religion of the colonists was infused with ancient attitudes and practices, some indeed so old as to antedate the rise of Christianity” (Hall, 1989: 99).

Many women in Salem stood accused because of personal financial successes and thus their lack of dependence on men. In the Puritan culture, men were thought to be ordained by God to rule over women. “The accusations were not pronounced in order to punish the women for their strength in comparison to men but because they were seen to be a danger to the Puritan society and its value system” (Gragg, 1992: 25f). The majority of those accused as witches were usually middle-aged and well-known in the town for at least somewhat dubious behaviors and their malevolent attitude. These traits were viewed as a result of enviousness, a sin, or from discontentedness which was a state of mind frowned upon by that society. Many of the accused also had been known to use foul language and had committed a crime, usually theft. A number had practiced medicine of some sort which was viewed as strictly a men-only occupation (Demos, 1982: 93f). Religious ideology certainly factored into the reasons that people were accused and executed for the crime of witchcraft but Puritans that lived in other sectors of the colonies did not take part in such activities. Witch hysteria was largely confined to New England specifically Salem.

Salem, a harbor town founded in 1626, was an attractive location for merchants. It was economically divided by the wealthier townspeople and those poorer farmers in the rural areas surrounding the town who could not “cross the subsistence threshold” (Boyer & Nissenbaum, 1974: 94). The outcomes of the conflicts that arose between wealthy merchants and the rural population “were achieved at the expense of the farmers” (Karlsen, 1987: 4). Salem was surrounded by many villages and as they expanded, this prevented farms from expanding. The original owners of the farmland had small pieces of property because the primitive tools of the day did not allow them to farm great expanses of land. However, these farms became smaller still with every succeeding generation because the original owner had to divide his existing land between his sons. As the merchants became steadily wealthier, the farmers were growing poorer over time which further divided the two factions.

Salem was also divided economically within the township itself. Its eastern sector was level meadowlands that had ample access to waterways and roads. Citizens living in this area wielded more political power because they had more access to wealth. The western sector, inhabited mainly by farmers, consisted mainly of hilly marshlands and was located further from water and road access. This ever-growing economic and political conflict that arose between these factions was a significant factor regarding accusations of witchcraft. Nearly all of these accusations originated from western inhabitants against those more fortunate eastern populous. In most instances, the accuser was not well acquainted with the accused. “The accusations were not exclusively based on the ‘evil’ reputation of a witch; instead the pattern suggests that social status was far more important during the witchcraft hysteria” (Boyer & Nissenbaum, 1974: 35).

Beyond religious, economic, psychological and political influences, another factor of medical origin could have played a role in the hysteria of witch hunts. Puritans baked bread with rye. Ergot, a fungus that commonly collects on rye grain, causes similar effects on people that LSD, a hallucinogenic drug, does. This could have caused the group of girls which began the witch hysteria in Salem to behave as they did. It also could have contributed to the fanatical actions of the accusers (Gormley, 1997: 22).

Puritan ideology was fundamental to the witchcraft hysteria because this aspect was essential in giving the accusations credibility and inspiring, quite literally, the fear of God in Puritans who believed themselves ordained by God to uphold the moral law by whatever means necessary. Social and economic issues during this time ignited community emotions and demonstrated to the overtly religious of the time that God had indeed turned his back on New England because of the evil presence allowed to remain there. The colonies, specifically in New England, were experiencing tremendous social changes. What had been a close-knit communal atmosphere of first generation colonists began developing distinct social classes. The concept of working for the benefit of all in the community was transitioning to the concept of working for the benefit of one’s self. Puritans felt threatened by this societal change because they felt that the lust for personal material gain meant a distancing of man from God and towards the devil. As novels such as The Crucible suggest, these trials were carried out with little or no hope for salvation for those women who steadfastly refused to acknowledge guilt of witchcraft, although, paradoxically, those women who admitted to it often were given the opportunity to repent and redeem themselves.

The witch trials were less avoidable than they were inevitable. Several varying factors may have played a significant role in the deplorable actions of the Puritans without which the trials and subsequent executions may not have occurred but the underlying determinant was superstitious religious zealotry. This factor was not a distant phenomenon that was a product of only that and earlier eras in human history. This mentality is very much alive and well in recent times. One of but maybe the most glaring examples was the McCarthy hearings of the 1950’s which was properly labeled a ‘witch-hunt’ because it exploited the public’s fear of communism during the Cold War. Several patriotic, freedom loving American citizens had their personal, public and professional lives ruined by these congressional hearings. Another modern day equivalent can be found in the current ideology that states anyone against the Iraq War is necessary against America and for terrorism. The Salem witch trials occurred more than 300 years ago but the lessons that should have been learned long ago by the events in this appalling period of American history clearly were not.

References

1. Boyer, Paul & Nissenbaum, Steve. Salem Possessed. The Social Origins of Witchcraft. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, (1974).
2. Demos, John. Entertaining Satan. Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England. Oxford: Oxford University Press, (1982).
3. Godbeer, Richard. The Devil’s Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, (1994).
4. Gormley, Myra Vanderpool. “The Salem Witch Trials.” Colonial Homes. Vol. 23, (1997).
5. Gragg, Larry. The Salem Witch Crisis. New York; Westport, Connecticut; London: Praeger, (1992).
6. Hall, David H. Worlds of Wonders, Days of Judgment: Popular Religious Belief in Early New England. New York: Knopf, (1989).
7. Hilkey, Charles, J. “Legal Development in Colonial Massachusetts 1630-1686.” Columbia Universities Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law. Vol. 37, No. 160, (1910).
8. Karlsen, Carol F. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England. New York: Vintage, (1987).
9. Luoma, Priscilla L. Who Put the You in Utopia? The Puritan Period. Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, (2005).
10. Schensul, Jill. “New England’s Old Witches, Old Riches.” The Record. Bergen County, NJ: (1992).

There is an issue in a society where false charges during periods of hysteria have damaged many lives throughout history. The year 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, is known as a period of mass panic. The residents of Salem were just being violently attacked by an invisible entity, which they believed to be the devil himself. The popular idea was that the devil hired witches to help him in his filthy deeds. They felt that these witches were living in their town, right beneath their eyes. Citizens believed it was their responsibility to exterminate the witches for the benefit of society. The tragic events of Salem, Massachusetts’ witch trials are eloquently depicted in Arthur Miller’s story The Crucible. Innocent persons have been detained, harassed, and even murdered as a result of similar “Salem witch trials of 1692” for hundreds of years. Even though America has also been subjected to several witch trials, no changes have occurred. This essay is going to analyze the reasons why Abigail Williams is to be blamed for the Salem witch trials and dreadful hangings.

Abigail Williams is guilted for the sorceress’ prosecutions as a consequence of condemning others. Throughout The Crucible, Abigail accuses others falsely to ascertain that she will not be caught. Mary Warren, one of the girls, gives witness contrary to the others, and they turn into her. The girls pretend that Mary has directed a wicked spirit against them to the point that Abigail yells that jealousy is a fatal iniquity and that God created her facial look. Thus no one should come to contact with it. She says, “But God made my face; you cannot want to tear my face. Envy is a deadly sin, Mary” (Miller, 1993). Abigail is aware that if she alleges someone, the adults and the law court will have assurance in her. The narcissism and egocentrism of Abigail lead her to accuse others. Abigail and the other girls are taken apart by judge Danforth when he tells Mary to pull back her spirit out of them. This proposes that the misses, particularly Abigail, are a liability since they continuously allege others and make the suspect victims.

In addition, the preceding of Abigail disturbs her as an effect of countersigning her parent’s demise. Betty, a cousin to Abigail, calls out for her deceased mother. Abigail screams and says that she witnessed Indians crash her beloved parents’ head on the cushion after hers and has visualized some reddish labor done in darkness. The witnessing of her parents’ torture deviates her in an undesirable way. She persistently portends others to be certain that they listen and have faith in her. Despite being affected by the historical involvements, the present understandings are extremely disturbing to her too. John Proctor is a man who is concerned with Abigail, and this makes her feel more influential and persuades her that he is similarly in love. She gets cleared of all those who are in her way by condemning them. Elizabeth, John Proctor’s wife, gets alleged, and Abigail articulates to John that he is singing secret melodies that his wife will be suspended, “unexpressed, hidden force” (Miller, 1993). Abigail Williams cannot be exempted since she triggered the disorder and affected the existence of hundreds.

Abigail is daydreaming, and it is appropriate for her age. She is a seventeen-year-old child who fantasizes about the perfect man “Abigail Williams, seventeen… a strikingly beautiful girl” (Miller, 1993). She does, though, have astute observation and a strategy-planning aptitude that show adulthood far beyond most other personalities. Labeling herself a witch grants her immediate prestige and notoriety in Salem, which equates to dominance. Abigail utilizes her power to instill fear and terror in others. She scares the other girls with brutality if they do not go through with her schemes, and she is not afraid to accuse them of witchcraft if their allegiance turns out to be false. Mary Warren is an example of this.

In conclusion, some elements and individuals are known to have backed and played a significant role in the court cases. It is also known that a significant portion of it was done to settle ancient grievances and deal with personal agendas. Even still, it cannot be denied that Abigail was the catalyst for the Salem witch. The Crucible’s Abigail Williams is culpability for the situations that happened. Her present and past occurrences are the ones that resulted in her actions. Nevertheless, she cannot be exempted and is not a fatality of the social order. Abigail witnessed her parents’ murder, had a matter with John Proctor, and endangered those who mounted on his affairs. Apart from Abigail’s tough opening, she should not opt to reprove folks of being sorceresses. Abigail Williams is an unscrupulous, self-interested individual. Though she is only seventeen years old, she still is capable of making correct; moral choices yet selects undesirable activities. Generally, Abigail’s life involvements destructively disturb her, which provokes her to make dreadful choices.

Reference

Miller, A. (1953). The crucible 3rd ed. Penguin Books.