Cotton Mather : The Roles Of The Salem Witch Trials

In January 1692 a group of young girls in Salem Village in Massachusetts became consumed by disturbing fits, seizures, violent actions and really loud screams. A doctor in the village diagnosed the girls as being victims of black magic. A few months later the infamous salem witch trials began in February of 1692 and ended May of 1693 in Massachusetts. More than 200 people were wrongly accused of witchcraft and 20 of them were executed. 19 of the executed where hung and one of them was crushed to death. Some of the judges during the witch trials where Samuel sewall, william stoughton and Jonathan corwin. The most notorious of them was Jonathan corwin he was a very

Many years ago before I was born, history was made .There were two major events that made history which where the “Salem witch trials” and “McCarthyism”. One started in the late 1600’s while the other started in the 1900’s. In these two events they had a lot of similarities, but they also had some differences as well. As years go by we can see what actually sparked these events and what made them go down in history. The Salem witch trials started in the 1692 in Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Rumors of witchcraft began circling the town and names of low class people were called out by the “ring leader” Abigail Williams, people accused were brought in front of the local court system. The trials began with three accused, Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborn, while Good and Osborn denied the allegations, Tituba confessed, most likely to save herself from conviction by acting as an informer. In Tituba’s confession, she claimed more witches served for the devil alongside her against the Puritans. By September 1692, hysteria spread throughout the community and names were called out in the chaos, including respected members of the church and community, Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey (“Salem”). Some “witches” confessed and accused others while some held their innocence.

The Salem Witch Trials took place in 1692 (Miller, 1124). The witchcraft hysteria was started by teenage girls dancing in the woods (Miller, 1124). Many innocent people died due to old grudges and jealousy (Miller, 1127). The condemned were accused of casting spells and dealing with the devil (Miller,

The young girls accused a slave of the Parris’s by the name of Tituba, a homeless beggar Sarah Good, and an older, poor woman by the name of Sara Osborn. They were brought before Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne for questioning and to see if there were other witches in the community. In the questioning the two Sarahs denied guilt but Tituba confessed hoping to save herself as acting as an informer.

The period of the Salem Witch Trials was an extremely dark time in New England because mass hysteria ran rampant, and over 200 people were accused of witchcraft (Blumburg). Trials were held for the accused “witches”, and author Cotton Mather was given the task of documenting a number of the trial proceedings. Mather was an esteemed adult in the Puritan community. Looking back at the accomplishments in his early life it is quite easy to see why he was held in such high regard. Cotton Mather was born February 12th, 1663 to a family of highly reputed New England Puritan priests (Walker). At only 12 years old, following in his father’s footsteps, Mather began his education at Harvard College. Mather faced many hardships and trying times throughout his life. As a child, Mather developed a bad stammer; because of his speech impediment, many presumed that he would never be able to enter the ministry (Franklin). Mather was also prone to nervous disorders that “drove him to ecstasy and despair” (150). Along with these hindrances, he faced numerous hardships. Mather lost his first two wives and then lost his third to insanity. As well as losing his wives, he lived to see all but two of this fifteen children pass away. Increase Mather, Cotton’s father, was President of Harvard, where both he and his son attended. Trying to live up to his father, Cotton aspired to become president of the college as well, but he was declined and never received the position. Multiple peers of Mather said

The well-known Salem witch trials began during the spring of 1692, after a set of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed

As an educated Harvard graduate and intelligent man Cotton Mather published hundreds of books to provide solid evidence as to what led to the Salem Witch Trials and was known as one of the most influential Puritan ministers of his time. Regardless, his involvement with the Salem witch trials and his peculiar analyses concerning the craft and actions of Satan gained him a significant number of followers around the 1690’s when the witch trials occurred. Remarkably, he received support from the judges and several of the ministers during the time of the trials occurrence due to his establishment as a well-known preacher but also his book Memorable Providences Mather wrote on his account with the Goodwin children. These children according to Mather’s account were disturbed by the Devil from a bewitchment. (Walker 2001)

What cause the Salem Witch Trials? In Massachusetts there was an uproar about people practicing witchcraft. People were accused of practicing witchcraft and were hung. When people are wrongfully accused of something is generally means that they did not do something that others think they did. The witch trials it lasted for about a year and a half until Massachusetts finally apologized for the uproar. The Salem Witch Trials happened a long time ago and there are still stories of the witch trials today. There was lots of people accused of being a witch and they were arrested. The most interesting thing about the witch trials is how it all started. The Salem Witch Trials was a big event back in the 1692-1693. The theme of the Salem Witch Trials is that people were wrongfully accused of practicing witchcraft.

On February 29, 1692, under the guidance of magistrates Johnathan Corwin and John Hathorne, Ann, Elizabeth and Abagail accused three women for afflicting them: Tituba a slave girl from the Caribbean who was owned by the Parris’s; Sarah Good, a homeless beggar and Sarah Osborne, an elderly woman. All three women were brought to trial before the local magistrates and interrogated for days at a time, these interrogations began on March 1, 1692. Both Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good claimed to be innocent, but Tituba confessed, “The Devil came to me and bid me serve him” (Witch Hunt). Tituba states that she has seen images of huge black dogs, red cats and a huge black man who asked her to write her name in his book. She said that she indeed did sign the book along with several other witches who sought out to destroy the Puritans. The Puritans were eager to believe the confession from the slave girl. Tituba’s skin reminded them of the Indians they came to hate so much. She was a dark skinned woman from Barbados, Tituba was also known for speaking her native language and practicing her native religion. Since Tituba confessed, all three women were sent to jail.

The first women to be accused of witchcraft in Salem were seen as different and as social outcasts: Tituba, a slave; Sarah Good, a homeless beggar; and Sarah Osborne, a sickly old woman who married her servant. These women were unpopular and it was easy to point fingers at them. Gossips and rumors were enough to accuse them. Tituba[3] was a dark skinned slave who lived in the household of the Reverend Samuel Parris. She was familiar with the West Indian Voodoo and practicing magic.

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 took place in the Puritan community of Salem, Massachusetts. Cotton Mather, a clergyman in Salem, emerged throughout the course of the trials as a pillar of support and, ultimately, as a witch-hunter. However, his motives at the beginning of the trials were driven by his Puritanical reasoning which holds a strong belief in Biblical Law. Cotton Mather used his Puritanical faith to find reasoning in God that allowed the Salem Witch Trials to occur.

After Doctor Griggs examined the girls, he diagnosed them with “being victims of black magic,” as stated in the article “Were Witches Burned at the stake During the Salem Witch Trials?” written by Evan Andrews. After the diagnosis had been made, five more young girls of the community began contracting similar symptoms (“Salem Witch Trials”).

In 1692 Salem, Massachusetts witnessed a time changing event. When the niece and daughter of Reverend Parris fell ill with tantrums, the doctor could not find anything physically wrong with them and mentioned that they may be possessed. Shortly after this diagnosis two of the girls who were afflicted named three women who were the cause of the girl’s issues. The three women named were Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osburn. These

After the doctor’s analysis, the townspeople then gathered up all of the girls with the symptoms. The collected girls accused three women: Sarah Good, an odd homeless woman who lived the streets of Salem Village, Sarah Osborne, who had married her servant and rarely attended the church meetings, and Tituba, an Indian slave from Barbados who was in service of Reverend Samuel Parris. Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne denied the accusations, while Tituba confessed, and claimed there were multiple other witches working by her side in Salem.