Salem

• How was life in North American colonies different to England? - new colonies allowed for towns to be established with strict Puritan rules – more militant/ believed the Devil was ever-present and refused to tolerate any religious denominations 
• Why did the Salem witch trials get out of hand? - events occurred in a small, isolated community – heightened sense of fear/ tensions between older settlers and newcomers/ wealthy and poor fuelled the craze further 
• Andros created a number of policies that led to his fall: 

  C of E services in Puritan churches/ introduced new taxes – focused on import and export duties/ Puritan landowners were required to pay fees in order to challenge and take back ownership/ restricted the number of town meetings that could be held 
• Cause 2 – the Glorious Revolution and its impact on Massachusetts – when news of the revolution reached Boston, colonists rebelled against Andros – suspected he was Catholic/ Andros’ own ministers revolted against him – suspected Popish plot/ rebels were led by Father and Son, Increase and Cotton Mather – both ministers/ arrested Andros’ officials in Boston and surrounded his house/ he was taken to England to face trials/ very little legal authority after this – blamed things on the Devil/ 1689-92 uncertainty 
• Indian threats and economic crises


  Indian attacks occurred since early settlement
• First Indian War


  1675-78
• 1/10 of military aged men killed in Salem
• After overthrow of Andros, military defences weakened
• Colonists killed
• Salem trials same time as Second Indian War and 9 Years War


  1688-1697
• William fought France


  Both sides allied with natives
• Puritans called Indians 'Devil worshippers'
• Accounts saw them as subhuman
• Indians were allies of hated French and Spanish
• First Indian War left economy ruined
• Salem governed as a theocracy


  Religion was at the heart of everyday life
• Springfield entirely burned
• Concerned with seeking God's approval


  Presence of the Devil
• Colonies had asked for English military help
• Scientific Revolution was largely ignored by Puritan authorities


  Crop failures, fires, illness and hallucinations were blamed on the Devil
• Caused higher taxes
• Nonconformists viewed with suspicion


  Social tensions between Salem town and Salem village
• Navigation Acts


  Good imported had to be on English ships
• Salem town


  • Less likely to have contact with the outside world
  • Less reliant on agriculture, driven by religious belief
  • Merchants concerned on private interests
• Salem village


  • Well-established and staunch Puritans
  • Attempts to gain independence from town
  • Old-fashioned, more concerned with public good will
  • Putnam family heavily involved in accusations, leaders of movements towards separation
• Some captains ignored these acts and were punished
• Majority of people accused were women
• Porters - richest family in Salem


  Made an attempt to put an end to the witch craze
• Acts reduced money and goods to Massachusetts
• Cause 4 - social tensions
• Cotton Mather


  Puritan, 3rd generation, grandfather arrived as a settler in 1630s
• Cotton Mather


  • Widespread influence
  • Defending their right to worship freely was the most important thing
  • Wanted to continue being independent from GB
  • Preaches about the dangers of witchcraft
  • Convincing speaker and high religious position meant people listened to him
  • Allows him to be disproportionately influential
  • Wrote over 400 books and published a number of works on witchcraft
  • Extensive account of the Goodwin possessions
  • Sermon printed warning about the presence of witches and how to detect them
• Samuel Parris


  • Minister and outsider
  • Followed 3 disliked ministers
  • Bought unnecessary items for the meeting house
  • Town refused to pay his wages, made enemies
  • Preached against them
  • Many were key witnesses at trials
  • Denounced the prosperity of Salem Town as the Devil's work
• The children


  • Main accusers of witches were Elizabeth Hubbard (testifies against 29 people - 13 hanged) and Anne Putnam (mentioned over 400 times in court documents)
• Tituba


  • Household servant of the Parris'
  • Bought from Barbados
  • Approached by Mary Sibley asking her to make a Witch's cake to counter possessions
  • The girls' fits only became worse
  • Samuel Parris became suspicious and filed charges against Tituba
• Widespread 3 – nature of victims, the trial and executions – around 20% of the accused were men – many had connections to the accused women/ many of the accused were outcasts in society (Sarah Good, Bridget Bishop, Martha Carrier)/ the trial – possessed girls gave evidence/ spectral evidence was allowed/ pleading guilty actually improved your chances/ evidence of good character was not allowed/ignored 
• Increase Mather source provenance – Reverand Samual Willard wrote an anonymous pamphlet before Increase did – makes Increase less important/ minister at a church in Boston/ pamphlet was called ‘Observations on our present debates respecting witchcraft’ 
• End 1 – Increase Mather – well-respected Puritan minister/ president of Harvard University/ used scripture and recent history to publish his sceptical work/ argued that genuine cases of witchcraft were rare/ supportive of trials but deeply critical of use of spectral evidence/ as he had a wide following, the number of accusations dramatically fell 
• Governor Phips

  • Discussed scepticism with Increase Mather
  • Became a sea captain and treasure hunter
  • Travelled to London in 1683
  • Knighted by James II in 1687
  • Baptised in Cotton Mather's church in 1689
  • Became more serious about religion
  • Deeply influenced by their views on witchcraft
  • Supported the accusations at first
• Phips' actions


  1. Ordered the prisoners to be kept in chains

  2. Created the Court of Oyer and Terminer

  3. Appointed William Stoughton as chief judge at the trial

  4. Saw this as a mistake in hindsight

  5. Influenced by Increase to close down the court

  6. Attempted to reprieve Rebecca Nurse

  7. Released those under investigation but they had to pay the fees