Cotton Mather was troubled by this fanaticism. ... Cotton Mather realized that misunderstandings and irrational thinking caused the widespread idea of witchcraft among the Puritans. (Mather) This irrationality was not only common amongst the people but also amongst the authorities. ...
Cotton Mather had recently published a popular book, "Memorable Providences," describing the suspected witchcraft of an Irish washerwoman in Boston, and Betty's behavior in some ways mirrored that of the afflicted person described in Mather's book. ...
In the book, "Damned Women," Elizabeth Reis gives an insight on the experiences of women in New England in the 17th century. She discusses the views of women who claimed that their souls had been affected by evil. Reis argues that these perceptions made the women of Salem in Massachusetts and the re...
"There is more to be said then hath been for the clearing up of difficulties about the matter of witchcraft" (Sutler 23). The Salem witchcraft trials were one of the last outbreaks of witchcraft hysteria, certainly the largest in the new world, occurred from 1692-1693. 141 people were arrested as suspects and 20 were hung or pressed to death. This was a morbid fact about the founding of the first colonies and the beginning of America. But it happened and the damage was done, thus we cannot try to ignore it and we cannot try to glamorize the subject. We can only present facts and draw our own c...
"There is more to be said then hath been for the clearing up of difficulties about the matter of witchcraft" (Sutler 23). The Salem witchcraft trials were one of the last outbreaks of witchcraft hysteria, certainly the largest in the new world, occurred from 1692-1693. 141 people were arrested as suspects and 20 were hung or pressed to death. This was a morbid fact about the founding of the first colonies and the beginning of America. But it happened and the damage was done, thus we cannot try to ignore it and we cannot try to glamorize the subject. We can only present facts and draw our own c...
