Slide 1

Slide 2

Mans Inhumanity to Man: A Colonial Travesty

Slide 3

What led to 19 hangings, one death by torture, four deaths in jail, and over 200 accusations in one small New England town?

Slide 4

Biblical Texts Exodus 22:18 Leviticus 20:27A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones; their blood shall be upon them King James Versionread in Salem

Slide 5

Argues Witchcraft is an Impossibility God alone can suspend the laws of the universe It was the error of the pagans to believe in some other divine power than the one God. Accepted in the Middle Ages that neither Satan nor witches had supernatural powers of any sort

Slide 6

Pope Innocent III attacks Cathar heretics in France Cathars say God and Satan are at war Cathars depicted as kissing Satans anus Satans reputation goes from a mischievous spoiler to a deeply sinister force

Slide 7

In Summa Theologian, he argues that the world was full of evil and demons Demons reap the sperm of men and spread it among women Sex and witchcraft have a long association Not for pleasure, but to spread temptation

Slide 8

Papal inquisitions follow Cathars into Germany Torture used on heretics for magical pacts and demon- driven sexual acts Confessions of flying on poles or animals Admit to covens, casting spells, sex with animals, causing storms Witchcraft becomes a crime

Slide 9

Hammer of Witches Report by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger to Pope Innocent VIII Witches have sex with demons, abort babies, steal penises Tells judges how to look for molessign of consorting with demonsand to bring witches to court walking backwards

Slide 10

Hysteria across Europe as Christianity is questioned Between 1500 and 1660, 50,000 to 80,000 were executed in Europe Jean Bodin ( On the DemonMania of Sorcerers, 1580) opens door to testimony by children, entrapment, instruments of torture

Slide 11

Torture of suspected witches in Scotland OK Bride victim of storm from Denmark and honeymoon voyage rocky Until 1597 abatement, it was the stake for accused witches

Slide 12

A dark cavein the middle a cauldron: 1 W ITCH : Thrice the brindled cat hath mewd 2 W ITCH : Thrice and once, the hedge-pig whind 3 W ITCH : Harpier cries:--tis time! tis time! 1 W ITCH : Round about the cauldron go; in the poisond entrails throwtoad, that under cold stone, days and nights has thirty-one; swelterd venom sleeping got, boil thou first i charmed pot! A LL : Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

Slide 13

1640-1643 peak in France English Civil War fueled hunting there Thirty Years War (1618-1648) upsets Catholic Church By 1648, Holland does away with punishment for witchcraft

Slide 14

Temperance Lloyd, senile, hanged Prosecution denounced by Lord Chief Justice Sir Francis North Enlightenment (1680s ff) enlists empirical reason, skepticism and humanitarianism

Slide 15

A Strong belief that Satan is acting in the world The Invisible World: disease, natural catastrophes, and bad fortune attributed to work of the devil Puritans are ruled by a theocracy of ministers who are the elected ones Xenophobia inheritably means youre one of us or youre damned into Lucifers Legion Educated means at Harvard (in CT), founded in 1636 as a Congregationalist seminary to train ministers Highly superstitious people and paranoid

Slide 16

Satan recruits witches (women) and wizards (men) to work for him Many cases of witchcraft prior to 1692 in New England and Europe Methods of discovery similar to those of the Spanish Inquisition for heretics (non-believers) A person afflicted with witchcraft exhibits certain symptoms which can be feigned

Slide 17

School Street, c. 1640

Slide 18

Slide 19

Smallpox epidemic in full force leaves families devastateddeaths of infants, elderly, servants Congregational strife in Salemtwo churches rival for civic leadership Frontier wars with indigenous peoples Small plots of land not enough to expand and prosper due to adjoining neighbors Teenage boredomstrict households, Bible reading required, kids have lots of work and responsibility, but no TV, iPods, dancing, or singing (except in church)

Slide 20

Convulsive ergotismfungus that grows on rye and causes hallucinations Witchs breadurine-soaked rye bread fed to a dog would reveal the tormenter of afflicted Theory popular, but unlikely

Slide 21

Judges and other officials were Puritan ministers and receptive of accusations Spectral evidence was allowed in court Confessed witches added credibility and accused others to avoid hanging Property feuds spur charges Reverend Samuel Parris was new to the town Tituba, Parris Arawak Indian slave told some good stories and entertained the afflicted ones

Slide 22

Samuel Seawall, Judge Wm Phips, Governor Wm Stoughton, Judge Rev. Samuel Parris Cotton Mather

Slide 23

This Was Mather Cotton Mather wrote a guide to finding witches Memorable Providences Devils tit: distinguishing mark Mole Freckle Scar A witch cant drown Has a familiarcat, dog, bird to spy on victims Has odd behavior like not going to church, poor, successful, deaf, not a Separatist Cannot recite The Lords Prayer

Slide 24

Writes Memorable Providences to describe one case Leading authority on Puritan theology and witchcraft Celebrity status in Massachusetts Father, Increase Mather, began family trade Ad for Mathers book

Slide 25

A slave brought by Parris from the Barbados Arawak Indian from the Caribbean Father rumored to be an Obi man from El Salvador Told fortunes to the afflicted girls Beaten by Parris into confessing and names others Sold off after trials because she confessed

Slide 26

Parris household: girls told how to predict who theyll marry Mary Warren claims Tituba tried to get her to sign the Devils book

Slide 27

Betty Parris, daughter of the Minister, age 6 Abigail Williams, niece of Rev. Parris, age 17 Ann Putnam, Jr., playmate of Betty and daughter of policeman, age 11 Mercy Lewis, orphaned friend of Abigail, age 17 Mary Walcott, friend of Abigail, age 16 Others about the same age who caught the hysteria Claimed the spectral presence of the witches pinched them and caused the screaming

Slide 28

Symptoms Running about Crawling under furniture Contortion of limbs and face Complaints of being pinched Hearing voices of the witches or seeing their specters Forced to participate in witchcraft Possible Causes Stress, guilt, boredom Convulsive ergotism Vomiting, choking Violent spasm Crawling sensations Hallucinations (LSD) Epilepsy or asthma Delusional psychosis Hunger and/or poor diet

Slide 29

Sarah Good, a beggar and misfit, who had a 4 year-old daughter Dorcas, cursed at people Sarah Osborn, an old and quarrelsome woman, who hadnt gone to church for a year Tituba Blamed for Cheese and butter going bad Farm animals born with deformities Sending specters to pinch the girls

Slide 30

ACCUSED WITCHESAFFLICTED ACCUSERS More prosperous Lived south of Salem Not in Parris congregation Over 18 Tied to the Porter family Poorer Lived in town or village In Parris congregation Between 6 and 17 Tied to the Putnam family

Slide 31

Bridget Bishop, aged 60, owned a tavern where customers played shuffleboard on the Sabbath first one on trial and hanged Deliverance Hobbs and Mary Warren confess and name Bishop Bishop carted off and hanged on Gallows Hill June 10, 1692

Slide 32

July 19, 1692 Rebecca Nurse Sarah Good Susannah Martin Elizabeth Howe Sarah Wildes

Slide 33

1. Afflicted person complains to Magistrat e 2. Magistrate issues warrant and arrests accused 3. Accused examined and jailed 4. Grand Jury is given depositions against accused 5. Trial by Court of Oyer and Terminer 6. Sentenced to hang on a specific date 7. Sheriff and deputies carries out sentence

Slide 34

Examination of a Witch for Marks This is not usual. In Salem, a group known as the matrons examined for moles or places the devil or the familiar animal might attach to the witch

Slide 35

August 19, 1692 Rev. George Burroughs Martha Carrier John Willard George Jacobs, Sr. John Proctor Burroughs caused a near panic when he flawlessly recited The Lords Prayer

Slide 36

Giles Corey, 80 years old refuses to enter a plea pressed with stones ( peine et fort ), but still refusesMore were reported as his last words, 09/11/1692 September 22, 1692 the last of 19 witches were hanged Giles and Martha Corey Giles transcript

Slide 37

Slide 38

September 22, 1692 Martha Corey, Giles wife Mary Eastey Ann Pudeator Alice Parker Wilmot Redd Margaret Scott Samuel Wardwell

Slide 39

DEATH LISTCONDITIONS Sarah Osborn Roger Toothaker Lyndia Dustin Ann Foster Dorcas Good, age 4 At least 13 others Had to be fed, taken care of by family Shackled Tortured No baths, light, toilet

Slide 40

Rebecca Nurse, a pious woman, belonged to a competing congregation, found not guilt, but re-tried and hanged John Proctor criticized the trials and was convicted along with his wife (given reprieve for the belly) The Crucible George Burroughs, former minister, accused ringleader

Slide 41

No legal counsel Could not call witnesses No appeal Testimony included Hearsay Gossip Rumors Unsupported stories Girls screaming and contorting

Slide 42

19 convicted witches were hanged 1 was pressed to death 4, including Sarah Goods four year-old daughter, died in prison Over 200 were arrested and imprisoned 2 dogs executed as accomplices The Salem Martyrs, Thomas Slatterwhite, 1869

Slide 43

Slide 44

Slide 45

Causes of Conscience, Increase Mather: were better that ten suspected witches should escape than one innocent person should be condemned become the first tract of evidence Spectral evidence excluded Some Miscellany Observations, Samuel Willard: devil could create specter of an innocent May 1693 pardons all 28 remaining accused persons and 3 convicted are released

Slide 46

Politics: Joseph McCarthy (R-WI) 1950s hunt for Communists in the govt, film, colleges Literature and Film Ha w thornes Scarlet Letter (author a descendant of judge) Millers The Crucible (play turned movies parodies McCarthy) Salem, MA is a tourist destination and conducts tours of sitesgraveyard, Gallows Hill, homes of accused