Salem Witch Trials

Introduction

            The Salem witch trials refer to events that took place in colonial Massachusetts where residents were accused of practicing witchcraft and some even executed as a result. The issue was made worse by the people’s belief that the devil could possess people and make them engage in acts of evil such as witchcraft. Anyone suspected to be practicing witchcraft was therefore believed to be influenced by the devil and was practicing the devil’s magic. Being devout Christians, the people were determined to get rid of the devils magic and as a result, anyone suspected or accused of practicing witchcraft was arrested, tried and some even killed if found guilty. Even though a court was used to determine whether the accused were guilty, the rulings were often biased as judgments were made with insufficient evidence and paranoia controlled the decisions made by the court. This was evident when the colony compensated the victims of the trials and admitted that a lot of mistakes had been made when determining whether the accused were witches or not. While the trials did create a lot of trouble for Massachusetts residents, the ongoing war and the people’s religious beliefs greatly contributed to the wrongful accusations and killings that occurred during the Salem witch trials.

            While various debates have been held on what really went on in Salem, the book; In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 by Mary Beth Norton gives a convincing argument on what really took place in Salem. Norton (5) argues that the singular world view that the Puritans inherited from the first settlers in the region is what made Massachusetts more susceptible to the fear associated with witchcraft. According to the author, people from New England believed that they had been chosen by god to spread his word. Since Massachusetts was believed to have been inhabited by people controlled by the devil, they took it upon themselves to get rid of evils such as witches. The argument has relevance in that it traces the root of the problem as it shows why people not only feared witches but also why they were so determined to get rid of those suspected of practicing witchcraft. As Christians, the people’s foundation was one that taught them that they not only had power over evil, but also that it was their duty to cleanse the world of it. Such a belief meant that the residents of Massachusetts were less likely to object to the harsh treatment forced upon those suspected of practicing witchcraft and therefore explains why killing people without enough evidence was acceptable so long as they were considered to be witches.

            Other than the people’s religious background, the author further believed that the first and second Indian wars made it easier for those in charge to control Massachusetts residents. The author was of the opinion that the losses experienced by New England led them to believe that a supernatural power (God) favored the Indians more hence their continued success in the war (Norton 5). When young girls started having unexplained fits, the first girl questioned on the matter blamed an Indian for tormenting her. The people of New England had grown to fear and dislike the Indians and as a result, they readily believed that witches were living among them and that their continued losses at war were as a result of the devils work. Norton was not only able to show where the fear of witchcraft came from but also explains how people were easily misled into believing that anything that went wrong could be traced back to the witches. This combined with the flow of events in the arguments makes Norton’s interpretations of the Salem witch trials most compelling.

            Another argument can be made that those accusing the people of Massachusetts of witchcraft were only after their land. In The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England by Carol F. Karlsen, the author argues that those accused of witchcraft, especially women, were targeted due to the pieces of land they inherited, or would inherit from their families (Karlsen 3). Although the author does make a compelling case regarding how most of the people accused of being witches stood to inherit pieces of land, she fails to explain how there were others accused but did not stand to inherit any land. Victims like Eunice Cole and Martha Corey were accused despite it not being clear whether they would inherit land or not thus discrediting the author’s argument. The author also failed to show why residents in Massachusetts went along with trials if they did not believe in witchcraft and this had a negative impact on the credibility of her argument.

Conclusion

            From the two readings, Norton’s argument was most convincing in that it explained how the religious background and the wars made it easier for people to believe that witches existed. The people’s belief that they were chosen to spread the word of God made it easier to influence them to turn against anyone suspected of witchcraft. The author shows the correlation between events such as the twitches, their relation to the war and why the victims blamed the Indians, the opinion that the Indians won because God was punishing New England among other arguments created a clear explanation of what happened in Salem and this is what made the reading most compelling.

 

 

 

Work cited

Carol F. Karlsen, “The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England”     New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1987

Jess Blumberg, “A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials: One Town’s Strange Journey from    Paranoia to Pardon,” 2007

Mary B. Norton, “In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692” New York: Vintage             Books, 2002