BP2: The influence of Cotton Mather, including Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcraft and Possessions; instigators, including the roles of Samuel Parris, children, and Tituba; the nature of the victims; the trials and executions

long ass title damn

Who was Cotton Mather?

A third-generation colonist whose father had been a well-respected colonist

How many books did Cotton Mather write?

400

What did Cotton do aside from write?

He preached, he was convincing when preaching about the danger of witches; he was able to relate real-life examples of own contact with witches and the bewitched

What did Cotton publish in 1689?

‘Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions’

• acted as guide and inspo for Salem

• contained an account of the Goodwin possessions and one of Mather’s sermons - warning against the presence of witches and how to detect them

Goodwin Possessions (1688)

• 13 yr old Martha accused servant of stealing bed linen (Mather thinks she use for witchcraft)

• Mother = outsider, spoke Gaelic and was Catholic - she shouts at Martha who then has fits (as did her bro and sis)

• Mother = arrested —→ executed

Who is Samuel Parris?

• studied at Harvard

• plantation owner :/

• was Puritan minister at Salem

• faced problems w/ his congregation - did not pay his wages

What sermon did Parris give before the hunt?

One that claimed the church was under siege by the Devil, who was being assisted by wicked men

When did the hunt in Parris’ household begin, and who was involved?

1691, his daughter, his niece, Tituba

Roles of the children?

• daughter (Elizabeth), her cousin (Abigail Williams) experiment w/ fortune telling, shared their findings w girls in Salem

• 1692, Elizabeth forgets prayers, barks like a dog when confronted, screams upon hearing prayers, throws Bible across the room, has fits and limb problems - more girls begin to exhibit these findings despite attempts for cures (prayer, fasting)

Role of Ann Putnam?

• 12 yr old - part of important family

• besties with Abigail and Elizabeth

• claimed she was possessed and showed similar symptoms to them

• leading role in prosecution (her name is mentioned over 400 times in the court documents)

• 1706 she apologises for her role saying the Devil made her do it

Role of Mary Walcott?

• 18 yrs old

• one of the first to suffer fits

• her aunt uses counter magic against suspects like Tituba

• her dad = bro in law of Thomas Putnam

Role of Mercy Lewis?

• 19 yrs old

• gave evidence against 8 people

• her parents were killed in an Indian attack - lived as a servant to George Burroughs

• She was also sent to the Putnam household before the trials and befriended Ann and Mary Walcott

Role of Elizabeth Hubbard?

• lived with her aunt and uncle - Rachel + William Griggs (town doctor)

• testified against 29 people: 17 were arrested and 13 hanged

• had fits and trances

What happened to children to young to testify (Elizabeth Parris, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam)?

Their accusations were endorsed by adults (including Ann’s father)

What may have caused the girls to have fits/act out and accuse people?

Likely to have been frustrated with their stifled upbringing in Puritan New England

Role of Tituba?

• servant/slave of the Parrises

• Mary Sibley (aunt of Mary Walcott) asked her to make a witch cake to counter the girls’ possession

• urine of afflicted children which was fed to the dog

• their fits became worse

• Tituba was bought in Barbados, she told the children tales of possession and voodoo

• she confessed quickly

• did NOT teach the girls fortune telling, this was already common practice in Salem

What % of the victims were men?

20%

First 3 witches accused (all social outcasts)?

1. Tituba - Native American or African, has been debated but still she is seen as subhuman

2. Sarah Good - beggar, accused of hurting children - her own daughter testified against her

3. Sarah Osborne - a widow of high standing - lived openly with an unmarried Irish indentured servant and attempted to remove the children she had w/ her deceased husband

Bridget Bishop?

• woman of independent mind (go girl!)

• innkeeper (where drinking and gambling took place)

• wore clothes Puritans disliked

Reverend George Burroughs?

• Puritan minister

• involved in local conflicts

• borrowed money from Putnams he couldn’t pay back

Martha Carrier?

• independent mind!!!

• described as ‘unsubmissive’ ‘of contentious spirit’ - had been accused of witchcraft previously

Rebecca Nurse?

• older and well-respected - members of the community wrote petitions for her innocence

• originally found not guilty but the jury was asked to reconsider and they found her guilty

• given a pardon by Governor Phips but men from Salem persuaded him to change his mind and she was executed 19th July 1692

Susannah Martin?

• 67 yr old widow

• accused by the original girls and 15 of her neighbors

• maintained her innocence until the end :,(

• accused previously

• possibly targeted bc she was in a court dispute over her father’s will

What is spectral evidence?

Based on testimony that claimed the accused or their spirit appeared in dreams or visions - apparently very convincing at first

What did Deliverance and Abigail Hobbs confess to?

attending a meeting where a number of witches plotted to bewitch all of Salem Village

How many of those who confessed were ultimately freed?

50

How many were accused, and how many faced serious charges?

165 accused, 39 facing serious charges

What did Governor Phips establish?

Court of Oyer and Terminer (a specially convened court to investigate a predetermined matter) in May to hear the cases offically

What else was carried out to find evidence?

Searches for the Devil’s mark

Evidence of scepticality among the judges?

One of the judges resigned within a month when he became suspicious about the legitimacy of the proceedings - he was replaced with a prosecuting lawyer (not qualified?)

Why were convictions easy?

• spectral evidence was accepted

• the accused were allowed few resources to mount a defence

• petitions by neighbours testifying to the good character of the accused were generally ignored

• long-standing and existing gossip from Salem was accepted as evidence

Giles Corey?

Refused to say anything at all, declined to enter a plea, tortured by pressing (16th Sept 1692) - suffocated to death, his wife and daughter were hanged 22nd Sept

How many had been executed by 22nd September 1692?

19

Why did the craze become so widespread?

• theocratical society

• role of the children

• social divisions causing resentment and jealousy

• individuals

• Stoughton’s acceptance of spectral evidence