Academic: Salem Witch Trials
Haley Floyd
HIS 200: Applied History
Southern New Hampshire University
December 20, 2018
Historical Analysis Essay: The Salem Witch Trials
The Salem Witch Trials are often considered to be some of the most devastating events in America’s history. The outbreak occurred initially due to various accusations of girls around Salem Village, as they began to exhibit signs of possession and spoke of the devil. These girls began accusing others of bewitching them, specifically Tituba, a slave belonging to Reverend Parris of Salem Village. As the girls continued to make accusations, others in town began to jump on the wagon as well, eventually spreading accusations over into the neighboring Salem Town. Before long, everyone began accusing everyone and anyone of witchcraft for varying degrees of reasoning, and many were jailed without question, be they men or women. The massive hysteria led to the imprisonment of well over a hundred people and the deaths of twenty four people and even a select number of dogs. But why is this so important? Why is it that this event is heard of so often, and considered so famous? This is because the Salem Witch Trials contributed to the largest and deadliest outbreak of witchcraft in all of American history. And why? Well, there are several speculated reasoning’s as to why this all happened, ranging from religion to occult fears and even to pure boredom. However, there is also a great deal of speculation that there was more to the trials than just fanatical religious beliefs. Despite the religious backing and ideas presented by the Salem Witch Trials, and the arguments that have been made in this ideas favor, there is a great deal of evidence that suggests the true influences behind the trial were much more complicated than that. Various records and personal accounts suggest a combination of various politics, especially economic, personal and social, and gender influences were what truly resulted in the Salem Witch Trials.
Personal politics played an extremely large role in the breakout and proceedings of the Salem Witch Trials. In fact, a great deal of these trials came to be cause of what some would consider to be rivalries between persons. A prime example of these rivalries lies in the rivalry of the two families that played a heavy contribution to the outbreak of the witch hysteria: The Porters and the Putmans. The Porters and the Putnams were two of the wealthiest families in Salem during the time of the trials, and the two of them did not get along very well. The Porters were a family that had emigrated from England and arrived in Salem in the early 1940s. It was not long after that they began to prosper in both the agricultural and mercantile fields, quickly becoming the largest land owners in Salem. The Putman’s tale is actually quite similar to that of the Porters, also having come from England and amassing great success, though the Putnam’s success lied primarily in agriculture. Regardless, this family quickly became the second most wealthy and powerful family in Salem. Powerful men, however, have a tendency to fight. Despite being almost indistinguishable as families due to their similar backgrounds, they faced absolute opposition of one another in the 1690’s as different views had them at each other’s throats for a great deal of the decade (Nissenbaum, 1974). Petty rivalries born of greed and jealousy began to spawn between the two families as each began to fear the other’s success. These issues only deepened once Salem Village began to make its attempts to split from Salem Town. The Putnams were some of those who supported the idea of drawing lines between Salem Town and Salem Village, as this process would have damaged the business and lands of the Porters, who had property in Salem Village, and would effectively grant the Putnams more opportunity for land, making them the wealthiest family. The Porters on the other hand were against the idea, and wished to keep the lines as they were, well aware that separating the two towns would have effectively damaged their own enterprise. And so, the two split into factions consisting of the two parishes of Salem. The issues only continued to deepen when Reverend Sammuel Parris came into the picture. When Salem Village was granted permission to have a church of their own, Parris was quickly supported by the Putnams, despite the lack of support from the Porters. To further prove this point, it is noted that, which someone one fourth of the church membership consisted of Putnams during Parris’ ministry, not a single Porter or in-law took this step (Nissenbaum, 1974). The Porters went even further with their objections after stepping in to take further control of Salem Village, and even taking further steps to cutting Parris’ pay. There was no question that there was a very heated rivalry between these two families, but how exactly did these personal politics influence the trials? Well one of the largest factors is the exact role each family played in the trails themselves. The Putnams were known for pushing the Witch Trials, and quickly became known as “the chief prosecutors of the business.” (Nissenbaum, 1974). In fact, one of the, if not the, most active accusers of the trials was twelve-year-old Ann Putnam of the same family, and some eight members of the family all together were involved in the prosecution of no less than fourty-six accused witches. (Nissenbaum, 1974) Of the some two hundred people accused of Witchcraft, that fourty-six is a very significant number. So what exactly did the Porters do? Well, continuing their trend of the families questioning each other’s actions, they began to question the accusations that came of the trials. In particular, they questioned the accusations poised against Rebecca Nurse. Every one of Nurses accusers were related to or otherwise associated with the Putnam family, and it is likely that “The farm that Rebecca and Francis Nurse leased from Reverend James Allen was the focus of a long and complicated boundary dispute between Allen, the Nurses, and the abutting Endicott and Putnam families. This dispute and another between the Putnams and several Topsfield landowners likely influenced the charges against Rebecca and her sisters Mary Esty and Sarah Cloyce, for their brother, Ensign Jacob Towne, was one of the Topsfield men” (Baker, 2014). Petty rivalries had influenced the opinions and accusations of the Putnams, and the Porters knew it. It was because of this that Nurse became the only accused witch that Israel Porter offered direct public support for (much of their questioning of the other accusations being kept indirect and under caution) (Nissenbaum,1974). He and his wife claimed that Nurse had pitied the girls, offering a loving solicitude for their situation. He and his wife formed a petition in defense of the woman, writing “we cane testyfie to all whom it may concerne that we have knowne her for: many years and Acording to our observation her: Life and conversation was Acording to her profession and we never had Any: cause or grounds to suspect her of Any such thing as she is nowe Acused of,” (Proctor, 1692) And having it signed by some 39 people, including some of the Putnams. Israel’s attempts to save Nurse’s life ultimately failed, and though it was a moving sentiment, it did not stop the Putnams. Abigail Williams, the Niece of Reverend Parris and one of the first girls to start accusations to begin with, eventually went on to accuse John Proctor himself of Witchcraft, the patriarch of the Proctor family. While not directly a Putnam, she was, by extension, an arm of the Putnam’s and their accusations who caused the death of John Proctor in August of 1692, marking him the first man to be accused and put to death for Witchcraft during the trials, and one of the first of many victims the Putnams would accuse throughout the trials. It was at this point that the situation began to grow beyond the Putnams, but also displayed how they and the Porters had started the issue as a whole through personal politics and petty rivalries. The bitter rivalry between the Putnams and the Porters is a fantastic example of how personal politics played into the beginning of the Salem Witch Hysteria, yet it is far from the only contributing factor. It’s also essential to examine the economic value of Hysteria, and how it influenced not only the trials, but found itself embroiled deeply into other influencing factors as well.
One common theme that generally seems to replay itself in these trials is the idea of personal gain, marking greed and economics as one of the primary influences behind the Witch Trials. One thing that people may notice about the accused is generally the fact that these people were wealthy people, people standing to gain inheritance and land owners, regardless of their gender. Anyone with a degree of worth was suddenly a prime target for accusation. What made these people prime targets exactly? Well one of the results of pleading at trial was the confiscation of all of ones assets (Rackliffe, 2016). If someone were to deny being a witch, they would be seen as guilty regardless and tossed in jail to await their death, having everything taken from them and their family, especially if the accused was a man. And if one were to plead guilty? Well ironically, despite how many may believe it to go, no one who ever plead guilty was put to death. Why? From the standpoint of greed and assets, they had already forsaken everything they had by pleading guilty, or at least there was no real reason to put them to death for the sake of “forgiveness”. Their land and assets were already taken and sold off to others who sought to gain from the suffering of the accused. This process was considered to be an illegal one in the case of those who plead not guilty, but was enacted upon regardless by Sherriff George Corwin who had been responsible for the seizure of property among the accused. One such case was when Philip English returned from fleeing accusations only to learn Corwin had pillaged his lands and divide the spoils among his men, as he had with a vast majority of the land. The legal structure of land an estate seizure was a complex one, but “it remains that several authorities including Governor Phips, English's ally, knew that Essex County Sheriff George Corwin was not forwarding the money to the colony or the Crown as he claimed,” (Austin, 2001) further proving just how much greed influenced the way trials were handled. Pushing the monetary value of the trials even further, the accused were forced to pay for their cells. Yes, anyone accused of witchcraft was forced to pay to stay in jail. And if they could not afford the price? Those who would not afford to pay for their cells were kept in jail even after their pardons because they were in debt (Rackliffe, 2016). At every turn where the accused had something to lose, another was waiting to gain. Guilty or innocent, it didn’t matter. As soon as the accused were jailed, they were stripped of worth, leaving nothing behind of their family. Even after the trials the economic gain of the trials continued. One more than one occasion, the accused and the relatives of the accused petitioned to retrieve their or their families land back after the Governor began to pardon those who had escaped death. As “Aftermath of the Salem Trials” puts it: “As soon as the trials were over the victims and their relatives pleaded with the courts for financial compensation and social recognition. They had to wait until 1700 for any legal body even to acknowledge their requests, and by this time many families had already been ruined,”( Saari and Shaw, 2001). One such person was Elizabeth Proctor, one of the pardoned accused, whom made attempts to recover the illegally seized lands of her executed husband writing to the general court
“sinc my husbands death the s'd will is proved and aproved by the Judg of probate and by that kind of desposall the wholl estat is disposed of; and although god hath Granted my life yet those that claime my s'd husbands estate by that which thay Call awill will not suffer me to have one peny of the Estat nither upon the acount of my husbands Contract with me before mariage nor yet upon the acount of the dowr which as I humbly conceive doth belong or ought to belong to me by the law for thay say that I am dead in the law and therfore my humble request and petetion to this Honoured Generall Court is that by an act of his honoured Court as god hath Contenewed my life and through gods goodnes without feare of being put to death upon that sentanc you would be pleased to put me Into acapacity to make use of the law to Recover that which of Right by law I ought to have for my nessesary suply and support that as I your petetioner am one of his majestyes subjects I may have the benifett of his laws,” (Proctor, 1696).
Even after being released and cleared of any guilt the accused and their relatives struggled to reclaim what was theirs by right due to the greed of a county turned against itself. Another such example was, again, Philip English, who struggled to reclaim the land taken by George Corwin, writing, along with several others, “we move and pray for is that You Would Pleas to pass some sutable Acts as in Your Wisdom You may think meet and proper that shall (so far as may be) Restore the Reputations to the Posterity of the suffurers and Remunerate them as to what they have been Damnified in their Estates,” (English, 1709) Something else to take note of when thinking on the idea of greed as a trial influencer is how the divisions of Salem Village and Salem town played in. This again brings about the conflict of the Porters and the Putnams as a prime example, whose rivalry will be explored further later on in this piece. Despite being wealthy, the Putnams were still part of the poorer parish of Salem Village, and held certain fears for their wealthy and commercial neighbor of Salem Town. The poorer agrarian’s who lived to the west in Salem Village get these fears against their more prosperous and commercial neighbors to the east in Salem Town, and began to benefit from it. As Benjamin C. Ray states “This clash led the frustrated westerners to respond by charging easterners with witchcraft.” This idea is supported by the geography of Salem and its accusations, as many came from the wester parish of Salem Village, and, in turn, the Putnam’s and associates. Because of the fear that the idea of capitalism began to spread, the western part of Salem became enthralled with the idea of preventing its spread while also benefiting from the lands left behind in Salem Town after the loss of the accused to the east. The value of accusations was a crucial factor in the Witch Trials, as it was an enormous influencer in who exactly was accused and even by whom they were accused, but the influencing factors of the trials do not stop there. As vital as money was, the gender versus gender battle of the trials was arguably one of the largest influencing factors of the trials.
Gender politics played just as substantial a role as personal politics in the Salem Witch Trials, especially when it came down to the persecution of women. The 17th century was one of patriarchal societies, and this situation was no different in New England. This is part of what seemed to make women such easy targets in the accusations of witchcraft. Of the nineteen people hung on Gallows Hill during the Salem Witch Hysteria, fourteen of these were women. Of those killed during the trials, the women seen executed outnumbered the men three to one. Even given the small number of those executed in comparison to the accused, this is a very large numerical difference, hinting at some degree of biased in the eyes of the community when it came to women. But why exactly is this? There are several possible answers. The first that comes to mind is influenced by religion, but not necessarily caused by it, and are known as Midwives. At their most basic definition, Midwives were women healers. Originally midwives in England posed a very large threat to the church due to their practice of medicine and basic power of life, which was something men of medicine and the church did not appreciate and were careful to stamp out where they could, applying the ideas of the Malleus Malificarum’s idea that no one can do more harm unto the catholic faith than pagan midwives (Kramer, 1487). Things did in fact change in New England, however, but only to a degree. While Women were allowed to practice midwifery and even respected for doing so at times, they were often manipulated by the higher male patriarchy of society. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman even goes as far to say “The frequency with which doctors were involved in witchcraft cases suggests that one of the unspoken (and probably unacknowledged) functions of New England Witchcraft was to discredit women's medical knowledge in favor of their male competitors" (Karlson, 1987). This really is not a consequence of the trials often though about as people are generally more concerned with the death, emotional and financial damaged caused by the trials, yet it is one of the unfortunate consequences all the same. Something else to examine is the background of the women accused. Thomas A. Foster points out that
Rather than merely powerless social misfits who might easily be scapegoated, these “witches” instead were often those who seemed threatening as formidable (or potentially powerful) women. Endowed with particular intelligence, facility in speech, and real or prospective independence and wealth, such women were unconventionally feminine and challenging within the context of the socially conservative, patriarchal communities in Massachusetts Bay or Connecticut.
Essentially, many of the women accused were powerful in a sense, or at least strong enough to pose a threat to the patriarchy of the colony, such as the aforementioned midwives. This idea does in fact go beyond the idea of women simply being in power, however. Karlson goes on to deduce that women who were able to make a profit from their developed skills put themselves up into competition with men and in turn made themselves vulnerable to accusations of Witchcraft. These ideas extended even further into the idea of inheritance and property. Considering land was generally a man’s business in the 17th century, the idea of women inheriting property put them at risk. Those without husbands, sons, or brothers often “stood in the way of orderly transmission of property from one generation of males to another"(Karlson, 1987). One such woman was Sarah Osborne, a widower who attempted to take ownership of her late husband’s property rather than passing it onto her sons, proceeding to “upset social norms that consequently resulted in accusations of witchcraft by the Putnam family. She died in prison on May 10, 1692, “(Virginia). So what better way to free up the land than to proceed to accusations of land owning women? What better way to disrupt inheritance than to see a woman stripped of it for the crime of witchcraft? What better way for a man to eliminate his competition than to see his competitors hung? Any women of a higher profile was at risk for accusations, and this extended to Mary Spencer Hull, also known as the wife of Sir William Phips, Governor of Massachusetts. This accusation did not end well, and eventually helped to contribute to the end of the Trials. The battle of the sexes in the Witch Hysteria was a major contribution to much of the outbreak given the traditional values that came along with it. It, along with every other influencer, is responsible for a number of consequences still dealt with today in the small towns of Salem and Danvers (former Salem Town), and across the country.
A great deal happened during the trials, and each interpretation of the event and its effects may have been different, but this does not change the lasting consequences left upon the country as a result of any and all causes. Hundreds of innocents had been accused, their lives left in tatters and their descendants suffering for it, while some twenty others had their lives stolen out from under them. Community relations became shattered as participants struggled to forgive one another and move one. Land and property not only fell into disputes but even into decay. Even the court system was forced to take a lesson from these proceedings, deeming them unlawful in the end. At the end of it all, a great many found difficulty with the church, cutting themselves from the congregation. The events of the trials are still remembered and studied even today as people often recall them to take a lesson in religion and society combined.
The Salem Witch Trials were an extremely complex event, despite the initial touch and go rhetoric the event is often explained with. Many are often taught of the religious aspects of the trials because this is how many wanted it to be remember. It was, in a sense, easier to blame the entire thing on a more pious idea. It put things into black and white in a way when, in fact, history should be viewed in shades of gray. The idea of moral complexity played a major part in these trials, as it was very hard to see who meant well and who meant for the damage caused to actually be caused. Likewise, it’s necessary to shift through numerous causes and viewpoints presented by the trials, as there is no set in stone cause as to why these events took place. No, rather there were a great many contributing factors, and it’s impossible to tell for sure how one effected the other and what would have happened if one happened and one didn’t. When everything boils down to it, the complexity of these events are just impossible to explain because of the various contributing factors, such as the ones discussed here, and the limitless ideas that can be presented by looking through different lenses to pinpoint what exactly makes this event so complicated.
The Salem Witch Trials were a time of horror, short as they may seem compared to other events, yet they are impactful events that must be remembered. They are part of our history, of my history, and I find them important to remember. I chose this event for reasons such as this. Learning from the past can help us progress in the future and even understand the present better to a point. Despite the religious backing and ideas presented by the Salem Witch Trials, and the arguments that have been made in this ideas favor, there is a great deal of evidence that suggests the true influences behind the trial were much more complicated than that. Various records and personal accounts suggest a combination of various politics, especially economic, personal and social, and gender influences were what truly resulted in the Salem Witch Trials. It is these facts that hang over the trials even still today, prevalent proof of a complex system that might often be ignored due to more present and generalized ideas found much more often in the world. Researching causes such as this made me consider the event in a totally different light than the one originally and most commonly taught at a basic level. For example, peaking through a political lens or an economical lens changed what once would be viewed as religious backing for executions and accusations into accusations on the basis of greed and rivalries, such as between the Putnams and the Porters. To get a deeper study of my thesis statement, it might be smarter for a historian to narrow it even further and to take different approaches to each cause. Looking more closely at the specifics of each cause would give a deeper understanding to each isolating and giving a deeper meaning to everything. This further extends into research, as seeking a deeper research would also assist in understanding better what exactly was occurring during these trials, and what caused these causes, showing a deeper flow of causality and complexity. Overall, the Salem Witch Trials were a devastating time in American history, but a time best not forgotten. They are a true example of what things such as greed, pettiness and misunderstandings can bring, and stand as a figure head teach the world as an example of a mistake and a horror but also of owning up to a mistake that can be fixed with time even four-handed years later.
Works Cited
Aftermath of the Salem Trials. (2001). In P. Saari & E. Shaw (Eds.), Witchcraft in America (Vol. 1, pp. 69-79). Detroit, MI: UXL. Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/apps/doc/CX3426600015/UHIC?u=nhc_main&sid=UHIC&xid=f5487742
Austin, A. T. (2001). Philip English. University of Virginia. Retrieved November 24, 2018, from http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/people/english.html
Baker, E. W. (2016). A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Boyer, P., & Nissenbaum, S. (1974). Two Families: The Porters and the Putnams. In Salem Possessed (pp. 110-132). Cambridge; Massachusetts; London; England: Harvard University Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/stable/j.ctt6wpn71.11
English, Phillip. (1709, 25 May). Petition of Phillip English et al. [Letter]. Retrieved from http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/texts/tei/swp?div_id=n172
Institoris, H., Sprenger, J., & Mackay, C. S. (2006). Malleus Maleficarum. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Karlsen, C. F. (1999). The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England. London?: Peter Smith.
Proctor, Elizabeth. (1696). Petition of Elizabeth Proctor to Recover the Estate of John Proctor [Letter]. Retrieved from http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/texts/tei/swp?div_id=n172
Proctor, Israel/ (1692, 1 May). Petition for Rebecca Nurse [Petition]. Retrieved from http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/texts/tei/swp?div_id=n94
Rackliffe, M. (2016). Order in the court! Cobblestone, (7), 16. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsggo&AN=edsgcl.466294362&site=eds-live&scope=site
Ray, B. (2008). The Geography of Witchcraft Accusations in 1692 Salem Village. The William and Mary Quarterly, 65(3), third series, 449-478. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/stable/25096807
