I want to start by apologizing if this post sounds like nothing more than a long rant. I had a hard time reading this work because my brain immediately went to conspiracy theory. I want to give the puritans the benefit of the doubt and say that there could have been witches and bewitchments but I can’t. I know that I can never know what happened and that my witch trial information is limited but this could have been an elaborate plan to scare people into remaining in the rigid puritan lifestyle. Mather wrote this piece as if everything was fact even though he acknowledges that he did not see all of it. On several occasions, he refers to an anonymous “credible witness”, which he feels is proof enough. Mather is so detailed yet at times he says things like “I can’t recall”, “I don’t remember”, or he cannot remember the day at which events happened.
The fact that this history was not written like a diary, a daily account, makes me wonder about what was going on. The puritans always wrote things down in detail, like the Anne Hutchinson trial for example. I think that Mather, being so influential, could have orchestrated this. Also Mather did talk about the Goodwin’s being a very religious family. I know this is all speculative but with all the younger people, the halfway church members we were talking about, I could see why they would want to use scare tactics. Mather goes into such depth about all of the awful things that happened to these children and the only thing that saves them is prayer. This is like when parents tell their kids that if they sit too close to the TV they will go blind, only in this case imaginary horses are involved.
When John Goodwin wrote his account of what went down, he inserted numerous biblical references and placed prayer and God as the only things that could help his children. Readers of these stories are supposed to take away that the devil is always lurking and that devotion to god will save you from him. Also, in regard to the suspected witches themselves, most of the women were thought of as strange for a long time. Mather, by drawing out the bewitchments for long after the “witches” died, he implies that suspected witches should be taken care of immediately, before they can do any harm.
In the final part of this selection, Deodat Lawson gives his account of what happened in Salem. On the second page (in-text 148), there is a footnote which describes Mather’s influences. The footnote contains a quote which reads “I cannot resist the impression upon reading it, that it was promoted by Cotton Mather and that he wrote the ‘Bookseller’s’ notice ‘to the Reader’.” Lawson was a key player in the Salem Witch Trials and I think that it is suspicious that Mather influenced him.
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I agree Cotton Mather wrote this as if he knew what he was talking about, even though he wasn’t a witness to all of it and saying he didn’t recall certain things. Cotton Mather thought that witches were not possessed by spirits, but that they were agents of the devil. He had attempted to demonstrate the reality of spirits, particularly the demonic ones. Although he had urged prosecution of the devil's work, he suggested punishment milder than execution for convicted witches. According to Mather, witches had been sent as divine judgment against a sinful people, living in a sinful world. Therefore, witches and corrupt deeds had to be destroyed before the Puritans could fulfill their destiny as "a people of God" in America. He saw it as a test, because in the Bible, James 1:3-4 states, “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” God tests Christian’s faith by bringing trials in their lives. This changes or disrupts a period of comfort, stability, peace, or happiness that they were experiencing. God’s purpose is to prove and increase the strengthen their faith and to display His glory.
ReplyDeleteI too, found Mather’s account of these “examples” to be a bit odd. Every time he claimed he had a “credible” source, he failed to mention names. This makes me believe that a good portion of his work was, as you said, to scare people and to make sure they did not sway from the Puritan path, and because there were so many influential people stating that witches existed, other people simply assumed they were correct. It was also difficult for me to take any of these accounts too seriously, as far as the witchcraft goes. I found myself wondering what other possibilities could have led to the supposed “witchcraft” or for one to be “possessed”. The medical and psychological knowledge and practices of the time were, like so many other things, completely wrapped up in their religion, making it impossible to separate the two. I feel that we continue to see this even in today’s society in the debate between science and religion; creation vs. evolution.
ReplyDeleteI agree that at times Mather’s account of the possessions seems a bit gossipy. I suppose he expects the reader to believe that he is telling the truth, and therefore the reader must also accept that the “witness” he talks about is indeed credible. At the same time I think he caters to a very specific audience. The audience would be the kind of people that do believe in witches and also believe that the devil is lurking in the woods, waiting for an opportunity to destroy the faith of the Puritan people. With this kept in mind, I don’t think that it would matter to the reader that Mather doesn’t mention his credible source. I think that all that would matter to Mather’s audience is that faith in God wins out in the end.
ReplyDeleteI didn’t get the sense that this was a conspiracy of any sort. I really think that Mather thought he was telling the truth. I think Mather tends to use a melodramatic style however, and this might naturally lead to some sort of embellishment, but I think his intent was sincere. We saw this earlier while reading his typographical biographies. Also, when you take into account the fact that the Puritans thought they had a covenant with God that put them at the center of the battle between good and evil, it is easier to accept that they would assume that what they were witnessing was, in fact, the work of satan.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that this is a form of scare tactics. Because of everything we have read this semester, we know that Puritans write down everything that happens to them, and then try to relate them back to God. You can see that Mather is making claims on things he never saw. Mathers experience with the Goodwin's was also very interesting. It is strange to me that he took one of the children into his house to do further tests on them. I actually read a small article on Mather's findings with the young child that said, in today's standards she completely fit the symptoms of hysteria. And Mather's findings with the young child, were pretty much the basis for the rest of the accusations.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with Eric on the grounds that Mather thought it was real though. In all of his readings we can see that eternal damnation is always resting upon his mind. It is also hard for me to beleive though, that all of these extremely well educated people thought the devil was coming into town and controlling people. I understand that the Puritans beleive their settlement is ground zero for the fight between good and evil, but to do what they did, doesn't connect for me. It seems to me that the Salem Trials are the pressure of living a perfect life catching up with them.
ReplyDeleteI don't think this was scare tactics at all. I think that the Puritains (Mather specifically) truly believed this. Ofcourse there were some who doubted but most probably took it as truth. I couldn't find if he said praying was cure, but rather it said that prayer helped and would keep them on a straighter path. I still think that even with prayer Mather thought the witches were still witches. Prayer was just a way to keep them from totally straying down the wrong path. Back then perhapes these people thought to be withces were mentally ill or ahead of their time (they didn't have so much faith in God) and the only resonable thing for the Puritains to do was call them "witches." I think it did scare the young crowd into doin the right thing but I think this as an outcome that Mather knew would happen and expected. He didn't do it in hopes that it would help straighten out the younger crowd, he did it because he thought it was true and all steps that followed were meant to heppen.
ReplyDeleteWhen I started to read the first paragraph of your post I made the connection of scaring people to stay to a similar incident during the "Red Scare". The United States basically put fear in to its' citizens to re-elect the president at that time. If they thought he would be able to protect their country then people were going to look up to him for protection. I think that lot of the Puritans idea for this was to also force people to stay in line and be one with them. That individuality was not good and you will be considered a witch and trialed if you matched any of these qualities.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with Eric. I think that Mather really did believe what he was writing, but I do also believe there was embellishment. I personally have a hard time believing in the idea of witches and demons that possess or torture someone, but I do think they truly thought there was something happening with these children. I do know that as the witch hunt progressed, however, that the fervor really did attack innocent people. There were even people a few years after the trials who apologized publicly for the actions, and for condemning possibly innocent people. I do agree that the idea of a red scare tactic was used. The idea of being a good Puritan is important, and if one does not act in the correct manner, then they could be seen as a witch, or they could be more susceptible to being attacked by demons or witches. It probably was a particularly effective scare tactic for a year or so.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the original post that Mather was most likely employing scare tactics. When reading it, I also noticed that Mather seemed to talk about it like fact but really, didn't see much of the "afflictions" himself. He says in the beginning of the text "...there now comes abroad into the world a little History of several very astonishing Witchcraft and Possessions, which partly my own Ocular Observation, and partly my undoubted Information, hath enabled me to offer unto the publick Notice of my Neighbors." (in-text 94). He's saying it's partly things he saw and partly "undoubted information." This doesn't sound like very reliable sources but I doubt many Puritans would question Mather and his "undoubted information."
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