Moreover, according to Mather, Quakers were "under the strong delusions of Satan" (Rape pp). Jane Kamensky writes that Cotton Mather cautioned women, "daughters of Zion" that their "Tongues are frequently not so Governed by the Fear of God as they ought to be" and that the pious matron need to cultivate a "silver tongue" Speech rare and pure, free of boastful dross" (Kamensky pp)
Like Mather, the majority of people believed that could "hear the Devil's presence in the speech of a local woman before their other senses offered corroborating evidence" (Kamensky pp). John Putnam Demos observes that females out numbered males by four to one and that most of the women accused were middle-aged, usually in their forties and fifties and that a woman in midlife would "enjoy considerable prestige in her village or neighborhood," thus, in theory and in fact, midlife was associated "with power over others" just as witchcraft was power of others (Demos pp)
e., "doctoring" on a local, quite informal basis; was of relatively low social position; was abrasive in style, contentious in character and stubbornly resilient in the face of adversity" (Demos pp) Carol Karlsen writes that despite sparse evidence, "it is clear that poor women, both the destitute and those with access to some resources were surely represented and very probably overrepresented" among the accused (Karlsen pp)
The Devil could bestow certain individuals, witches, with the power to harm others at the cost of their soul. These beliefs originating in the 1300s in Europe created a witch hysteria that lasted until the end of the 1600s (Godbeer, 2011)
The colonists blamed the Devil for the bickering occurring in the village. It is in this climate that in January of 1692, that Elizabeth Parris (Reverend Parris's daughter), age 9, and his niece Abigail Williams, age 11, began having "fits" (Roach, 2013)
The colonists blamed the Devil for the bickering occurring in the village. It is in this climate that in January of 1692, that Elizabeth Parris (Reverend Parris's daughter), age 9, and his niece Abigail Williams, age 11, began having "fits" (Roach, 2013)
Witches became the popular excuse for personal, financial, or other failings - when a married man found himself sexually attracted to a young single woman, he blamed his resulting feelings upon the woman and attributed her power over him to witch craft. This was necessary, because admitting that feeling attracted to a woman resulted in feelings of sexual desire and desire felt outside of the wedding bond must certainly have been caused by the Devil (Ehrenreich, 32)
If a farm failed, cattle became sick, a baby was born stillborn, all of these misfortunes were attributed to Satan. "But most misfortunes were undoubtedly caused by accident, disease, and mistakes," (Hill 32)
Women who took up occupations more commonly associated with men (such as Bridget Bishop who was an innkeeper), taking up opposing religious standards (as happened with George Burroughs who believed in a greater level of free will), and criminal occupations (such as Giles Corey who had committed murder). People who opposed the trials, who spoke out against the establishment or in support of the accused could easily be interpreted as being in support of the witches and, thus by extension, witches themselves (Lindley 17)
The idea of the witch was one that found roots deep within Puritan religious practice. "Colonial New Englanders drew from a long tradition of tales an witchcraft rituals that described Satan's temptations and crafty ways," (Reis 61)
Once the anti-witch hysteria went into full gear, no one was safe - more than twenty people had been executed as witches (including a minister), another half-dozen died in jail, and only seven people accused did not face either fate (Institute for the Advanced Study of the Humanities, n pag). As evidence of manufactured accusations started surfacing, Cotton Mather (who oversaw the very last of the trials that his father, Increase Mather, had essentially started) eventually redefined the nature of witchcraft as requiring physical rather than spectral evidence (which essentially dried up the entire process (Wendell, 278)
This unseen force caused people to fall into fits, feel pains in their arms and legs like biting and pricking, bark like dogs, grovel on the ground like hogs, and even turn suicidal. Psychotic hallucinations were frightening." (Carlson 6)
The symptoms that the afflicted had were convulsive fits that were grotesque and violent. The fits were so strange because the seizures would cause body parts to move and be positioned in ways that were not natural and that a well person would not be able to duplicate (Hansen 21)
Boys enjoyed hunting, trapping, and fishing, carpentry, and crafts. For girls there were no such outlets for animal high spirits or mental creativity" (Hill 7)
The most severe cases of encephalitis can cause a person to contort and convulse, although convulsions are most common with infants (Merriam-Webster 530). There is no predilection for gender other than that for SSPE, Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis, which is 2-4 times more prevalent in male children (Lazoff, 5)
It's one thing to control one woman, but it is entirely a different matter controlling a mass of women. Out of the accused witches of pre-Salem Massachusetts, twenty-five of the thirty-four suspects were women" (Weisman 76)
In addition, David Fremon, author of The Salem Witchcraft Trials, "self-expression, self-assertion, or opposition to the community were signs of sin." (Fremon 26) The sudden mystery of the Salem Village "afflictions" fell into this category as well
Hoffer says that John Gaule half-joked that "[E]very old woman with a wrinkled face, a furr'd brow, a hairy lip, a gobber tooth, a squint eye, a squeaking voice, or a scolding tongue" was fair game for the accusation of witch. (Hoffer 5) Although the situation may not have been that bad, it may well have been as events leading to the persecution of so-called witches were just as weak and flimsy
The Puritan belief consisted of a personal religious experience, strict moral conduct, and simple worship services. (Kallen 17) Those who were considered sinful were severely punished
According to Mary Norton, author of In the Devil's Snare, the "witchcraft crisis" began in the middle of January 1661, which resulted in legal action against 144 people. (Norton 3) Of that number, nine women were executed for being witches