QUESTIONING SOCIAL NORMS CAUSES POWER LOSS FEARS

Mrs. Jestice

English 3

October 4, 2016

The Salem Witch Trials--Definition

“The Salem Witch Trials were a series of witchcraft cases brought before local magistrates in a settlement called Salem which was a part of the Massachusetts Bay colony in the 17th century” (Brooks 1).

• Began in February 1692: Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne accused• Ended in May of 1693: remaining victims were released from jail • Scapegoating = Fear + “Trigger” (Brooks 1).

“As a devout and strongly religious community living in near isolation in the mysterious New World, the community of Salem had a heightened sense of fear of the Devil and then experienced a “trigger” when Tituba, one of the accused witches, confessed that she and others were in fact witches working for the Devil” (Brooks 1).

Tituba’s confession (as the only slave in the area and her only survival strategy) launched the fear that the devil was wreaking havoc.

“The Massachusetts Bay colonists had accused and convicted people of witchcraft before, starting with Margaret Jones in 1648, but nobody in the colony had ever confessed to being a witch before or ominously stated that there were other witches out there. Tituba’s simple confession reinforced all of the colonist’s underlying fears” (Brooks 1).

Tituba’s confession began an unfortunate series of events.

“There would be less consensus afterward, particularly when it came to Tituba's identity. Described as Indian no fewer than 15 times in the court papers, she went on to shift-shape herself. As scholars have noted, falling prey to a multi-century game of telephone, Tituba evolved over two centuries from Indian to half-Indian to half-black to black, with assists from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (who seemed to have plucked her from Macbeth), historian George Bancroft and William Carlos Williams. By the time Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible, in 1952, Tituba was a "Negro slave." She engaged in a different brand of dark arts: To go with her new heritage, Miller supplied a live frog, a kettle and chicken blood” (Schiff 1).

THE PROCESS . . .English Royal Indulgence

Freedom of Religion

Expansion of Puritanism

Creation of the Salem Witch Trials

Comparison/Contrast

Mythology—The Three Fates

The Renaissance—Shakespeare’s 3 Witches from Macbeth, fate controllers

Catholics VS. Protestants

CAUSE AND EFFECTCause: Repressed desire must surface; those in control will BLAME someone else because they don’t want to lose power.

Effect: Laws inacted to keep the rebellion quiet . . . Which works for a while.

EVALUATION

History Repeats Itself“As years passed, apologies were offered, and restitution was made to the victims' families. Historians and sociologists have examined this most complex episode in our history so that we may understand the issues of that time and apply our understanding to our own society. The parallels between the Salem witch trials and more modern examples of "witch hunting" like the McCarthy hearings of the 1950's, are remarkable” (“Salem Witch Museum” 1).

TORTURE

BILL OF RIGHTS

EPIPHANY

Control

Freedom

Survival

Watch OURSELVES!

Works CitedBrooks, Rebecca Beatrice. “History of the Salem Witch Trials.” History of

Massachusettes. 2016. Web.

<http://historyofmassachusetts.org>

Images from Google.com. 2016 Web.

Madison, James. “The Bill of Rights.” Bill of Rights Institute. 2016. Web.

<www.billofrightsinstitute.org>

Schiff, Stacy. "The devil's tongue: the true motives of the star witness at the center of the Salem witch trials in 1692 remain one of America's greatest secrets." Smithsonian Nov. 2015: 34+.Science In Context. Web. 9 Oct. 2016.

“The Salem Witch Museum.” 2016. Web.

www.salemwitchmuseum.com