Key Events and Figures in the Salem Witch Trials and John Brown's Trial

Trial of Anne Hutchinson

(1637) A trial related to Anne Hutchinson's challenge of Puritan religious authority.

Puritans

Settlers from England who sought to create a purified religious community in New England, establishing the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Indulgences

Payments made to forgive sins and lessen time in purgatory, which Puritans rejected as fraudulent.

Calvinism

A theological system developed by John Calvin emphasizing the absolute sovereignty of God and predestination.

Predestination

The belief that God has already determined who will be saved (the 'elect') and who will be damned (the 'reprobate').

Conversion

A moment of irresistible grace when a Puritan realized they were predestined for heaven, leading to a life-altering spiritual experience.

Visible Saints

Individuals who have undergone the conversion experience and demonstrate their election through moral behavior.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

The colony in New England founded by Puritans in 1630, where the trial of Anne Hutchinson took place.

John Winthrop

A Puritan leader who led settlers to New England and opposed Anne Hutchinson's views.

A Model of Christian Charity

A famous sermon by John Winthrop emphasizing communal responsibility and moral obligations, including the phrase 'city upon a hill.'

Great and General Court

The governing system in Massachusetts, serving as the colonial legislature and the only civil/criminal court for 7,000 settlers.

Antinomianism

The belief that moral law is not binding on those who are saved by grace, associated with Anne Hutchinson's teachings.

Covenant of Work

The belief that individuals could earn salvation through good deeds or moral behavior, opposed by Hutchinson's views.

Covenant of Grace

The belief that only God's grace, not human actions, determines salvation, as argued by Anne Hutchinson.

Reformation Ideas

The theological principles that influenced Puritans, emphasizing salvation through faith and grace alone.

Puritan Doctrine

The religious beliefs held by Puritans, including the necessity of ministers as intermediaries between God and individuals.

Elect

Those predestined for salvation in Calvinist theology.

Reprobate

Those predestined for damnation in Calvinist theology.

Social Control

The Puritan belief in strict rules to maintain order and conformity in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Religious Authority

The belief that ministers were necessary for spiritual guidance, which Hutchinson challenged.

Puritan Community

A religious society in which conformity to norms was essential for stability, as emphasized by Puritan leaders.

Salvation

The deliverance from sin and its consequences, a central theme in Puritan theology.

Moral Behavior

Actions that reflect one's faith and are expected from visible saints in Puritan society.

Public Testimony

The requirement for individuals in the Massachusetts Bay Colony to share their conversion experiences publicly.

Community Harmony

The ideal of unity and conformity within the Puritan society, threatened by Hutchinson's beliefs.

Jezebel Comparison

John Winthrop's view of Anne Hutchinson as a dangerous influence, likening her to the biblical figure Jezebel.

Doctrine of "Just Price"

The belief that making a small profit was okay but too much profit was sinful. If businesses charged too much it was called oppression.

Wicked Capitalism

Charging too much.

Anne Hutchinson

Main girl in the trial. She was 46 years old and had 15 children with the 16th coming soon. She was a midwife and her job was to take care of children.

William Hutchinson

The Husband of Anne Hutchinson and a significant figure. He is often overshadowed by his wife, he supported his wife throughout her religious dissent and the events surrounding her trial.

Society of Deference (deferential society)

People you knew had more power than you. Social and political order depended on everyone knowing their place.

Coverture

Doctrine that women were legally covered by their husbands upon marriage. They had no legal identity outside of their husband.

Conventicles

A private gathering to discuss scriptures and pray. The Anglican church opposed conventicles because they thought it was trouble.

John Wilson

He is the leading minister in Puritan New England. He stresses the need for 'preparation for grace' and lives a godly life day to day.

Doctrine of Preparationism

The idea there were steps to take to get in a proper frame of mind to receive conversion if it were forthcoming.

Covenant of Works

the idea that individuals could obtain salvation by doing things.

Anne Hutchinson Trial

the trial related to Anne Hutchinson's rejection of the doctrine of preparations central to the religious conflict.

Antinomian Controversy

the argument between a covenant of works and covenant of grace.

5th Commandment

emphasizes respect for authority and the importance of maintaining family and societal order.

Roger Williams

Roger Williams was a puritan dissenter who believed clergy in Massachusetts bay had too much power and too much faith in good works.

Salem Village

Salem Village was predominantly rural with a farming-based economy, smaller and poorer compared to Salem Town.

Salem Town

Salem Town was a more prosperous urban settlement in colonial Massachusetts, with a strong commercial economy centered around maritime trade.

King James II

the 2nd king after King Charles II who announced the dominion of New England, merging New England's colonies into a single administrative unit.

Governor Andros

Sire Edmund Andros was appointed by King James II as the governor of the Dominion, unpopular for suppressing local autonomy and raising taxes without approval.

Glorious Revolution of 1688

a bloodless revolution that led to the overthrow of King James II.

King William's War

the first of several colonial wars between France and England in North America, resulting in high tensions in New England colonies.

The Putnam Family

a prominent and influential family in Salem Village known for their wealth, with key accusers in the Salem Witch Trials.

Deodat Lawson

the Putnam family's choice as Minister for Salem Village who fueled the belief that witchcraft was at work.

Witchcraft Belief

He fueled the belief that witchcraft was at work.

World of Signs and Wonder

Refers to puritan worldview in which everyday events - especially unusual or unexplainable occurrences- were seen as messages from God, warnings or evidence of supernatural forces.

Samuel Parris

Controversial minister who takes over for Lowsen in Salem village. His daughter Betty Parris and Abigail Williams (cousin) began experiencing fits, contortions, and strange behavior.

Tituba

Tituba was an enslaved woman who lived in the household of Reverend Samuel Parris in Salem Village.

Witch Cake & Witches' Familiars

Type of remedy used to identify witches. It involved mixing rye meal with the urine of the afflicted person(someone who was thought to be bewitched), and then feeding it to a dog.

Abigail Williams

One of the primary accusers. She is Betty Parris's cousin, and Abigail was also living in the Parris household at the time.

Cotton Mather

He was the leading minister in puritan new england. He was a man of the enlightenment.

Jonathan Corwin & John Hathorne

Prominent magistrates in Salem.

Court of Oyer and Terminer

Special judicial body established by Governor William Phips that used a legal process where a grand jury would indict the accused, and a petit jury would then determine their guilt or innocence.

Goody Osborn

One of the first people accused of witchcraft and was a marginalized figure in salem village.

Rebecca Nurse

Was a respected elderly woman in Salem Village, known for her piety and strong moral character, who was accused of witchcraft.

Giles Corey

Farmer in salem village who was known for his strong personality and land disputes with neighbors.

Judge Samuel Sewell

One of nine jurists in court of oyer and terminer.

Spectral Evidence

Evidence only accusers can see. It involved testimony that the accused's spirit or specter appeared to the witness in a vision or dream.

Compurgation

Defendant would swear on a Bible or holy relics that he or she didn't do it.

Oaths

Oaths that had to be said 'without slip or trip.'

Salem Witch Trial

A series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts.

George Burroughs

He was accused of being the leader of the entire satanic plot of the Salem witch trials, a one-time minister who borrowed money from the Putnams.

Trial of George Burroughs

Included 8 girls who testified that Burroughs' spirit returned to Salem, choked them, and demanded that they sign the devil's book.

Ergot Poisoning

Causes LSD-like hallucinations due to wet springs and spreads through fields, leading to symptoms like tingling, convulsing, and vomiting.

Mass Sociogenic Illness

Mass hysteria characterized by rapid spread of illness symptoms among a group, often without physical cause, arising from physiological stress.

The Crucible

A play by Arthur Miller that dramatizes the events of the Salem witch trials of 1692.

Toussaint Louverture

Led the successful slave revolt in Saint-Domingue (Haiti) and became an icon of resistance and liberation.

Haitian Revolution

The only successful slave revolt in the world, where 87% of the 519,000 people living in Haiti were enslaved.

Gabriel Prosser

In 1800, a black slave who conspired to rebel but was betrayed by conspirators during a tropical storm.

Denmark Vesey

A skilled carpenter and conspirator born in Africa, who planned a rebellion in Charleston on July 14, 1822.

American Colonization Society

An organization that aimed to promote the migration of free African Americans to Africa.

Walker's Appeal

Published by free black abolitionist David Walker, calling on enslaved people to rise up and resist oppression.

William Lloyd Garrison

An American abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer known for his anti-slavery newspaper, The Liberator.

Nat Turner's Rebellion

In 1831, Turner led a violent rebellion in Virginia, killing over 50 white individuals, motivated by a religious vision.

Article 4, Section 2

Extradition clause requiring a person charged with a crime in one state who flees to another to be returned upon request.

Fugitive Slave Clause

Required enslaved people escaping to free states to be returned to their owners, emphasizing the enforcement of slavery across state lines.

Wilmot Proviso

a resolution introduced in 1846 that aimed to prohibit slavery in the territories gained from Mexico after the mexican-american war. It was debated repeatedly 1846-48, passed in House, but stalled in Senate.

Compromise of 1850

designed to address the sectional tensions around slavery in the United States. It admitted California as a free state, established popular sovereignty in the territories of New Mexico and Utah, settled the Texas boundary dispute, abolished the slave trade in Washington D.C., and included stricter Fugitive Slave Act.

Fugitive Slave Law of 1850

fed laws that required the return of escaped slaves to their owners and included harsh penalties for those who assisted fugitive slaves.

Christiana Riot

a violent confrontation between abolitionists and a Maryland posse attempting to capture escaped slaves.

League of the Giledites

Organization founded by Brown, but comprised mostly of African Americans in Springfield, Mass. Members committed to obstructing the Fugitive Slave Act with force.

Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

repealed Missouri Compromise line, allowing the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide the status of slavery through popular sovereignty.

Jayhawkers

anti-slavery activists who played a significant role in the violent conflicts known as Bleeding Kansas during the mid-1850s. Primarily composed of free-state settlers from the North, the Jayhawkers sought to oppose pro-slavery forces and protect escaped slaves in the Kansas Territory.

Bleeding Kansas

refers to the violent confrontations that erupted between pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the Kansas Territory during the mid-1850s, following the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Border Ruffians

pro-slavery activists from Missouri who played a significant role in the violent confrontations during Bleeding Kansas.

The Caning of Sumner

Preston Brooks, a pro-slavery Democratic congressman from South Carolina, brutally attacked Charles Sumner, a Republican senator. Attack was provoked by Sumner's outspoken anti-slavery speech, which criticized pro-slavery politicians.

John Brown's "Liberty Guards"

group consisted of both black and white abolitionists committed to defending free-state settlers against pro-slavery forces.

Pottawatomie Creek

site of the Pottawatomie Massacre which occurred when John Brown and his sons killed 5 pro-slavery settlers.