The Salem Witchcraft Scare

Giles Corey of Salem Farms, by Longfellow

‘Twas but a village then; the good man ploughed,
His ample acres under sun or cloud;
The good wife at her doorstop sat and spun
And gossiped with her neighbor in the sun.
The only men of dignity and state
Were then the Minister and the Magistrate,
Who ruled their little realm with iron rod,
Less in the love, than in the fear of God.
And who believed devoutly in the Powers
Of Darkness, working in this world of ours,
In spells of Witchcraft, incantations dread,
and shrouded apparitions of the dead.
And ye who listen to the Tale of Woe,
Be not too swift in casting the first stone,
Nor think New England bears the guilt alone
This sudden burst of wickedness and crime
Was but the common madness of the time
When in all land, that lie within the sound
Of Sabbath bells, a Witch was burned or drowned.

The poem shown above served to forever immortalize in history the events which have come to be called “The Salem Witchcraft Scare.” What happened in this sleepy, little village on the East coast of the United States in 1692? Why in the world would civilized, up-standing, God-fearing citizens suddenly go berserk and instigate a reign of terror that culminated in the hanging deaths of nineteen of their friends and neighbors? How can we explain such bizarre events? This paper will attempt to answer these questions, and hopefully, shed some light on one of the darkest moments in America’s history.

During the research for this paper, a great deal of difficulty was encountered in identifying with any of the scholarly explanations presented in the work entitled, Retrieving the American Past. Each particular author seemed to believe that they, and they alone, had “discovered” the cause of the witchcraft scare.

In the first excerpt, co-authors, Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, discussed the economic and political issues that contributed to the phenomenon, but entirely avoided the great amount of religious undertows, which prevailed during that period of history. Carol Karlsen, in the second selection, concentrated mainly on the gender issues of that time, and completely evaded the issue surrounding either the economic, political or, again, religious points involved. The character traits suggested by author, John Demos, were very informative, but as with the other authors, he did not provide a very convincing argument for his contention that these various traits were the causes of the problem.