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American Studies 100
Monday, February 1st, 1999
Announcements: Continuation of lecture on Salem
Witch Trials
Lecture notes:
Women on Trial
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Witch craft enters through carnal lust
- Because women felt more emotion (lustfulness), they were closer to beasts,
and in turn closer to the devil
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Of the 178 accused in Salem, more than 75% were women
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Of all the cases throughout New England, 82% were women
Men Treated Differently than Women
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Most women were forced to testify and then executed for admitting to witch
craft
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Men testified, but then they were asked to rethink what they had just admitted
Sexist-Plot Theory
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Most accussed of witchcraft were women
-
Women were responsible for "medicine" in the colony (i.e. midwife, etc.)
- Medicine
became "professionalized" and men needed to take it over
- However, most men did not go into medicine until the early to mid 1700's
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A number of the women accused were to inherit land, almost over 50%
-
Women in the colony were becoming predominant and men needed to gain control
(the hierarchy of the colony)
* Most of the accused were "fingered" by the young girls, so this is all
just in theory
Motivations of Young Girls (Accusers)
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Repressed Vitality???
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Made their accusations in fits
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Possibly could have been protest movements
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Girls could get away with things that they could have never done because
of their fits
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It was easier to make accusations on people who were less powerful (lower
class, hierarchy, women's roles)
*Again this is all in theory
Map
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An overhead map was shown of Salem. This showed the division of were
the accussers, defenders, and witches were located
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Defenders and Witches were located to the East, or along the main road
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Accusers were located to the West
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There seems to be a division between East (manufacturing, market) and West
(rural)
Why the Division between East and West???
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Possibly because of two different economies
- Power
base economy switched from farming to marketing
- West lost power base
- A
new church was built in the West, and there was a dispute over the minister
- After 3 ministers, Samuel Parris became the preacher
~ his daughter and niece were both accusers of the witches
~ was preaching about apocolyptic ideas right before the young girls began
having fits
~ was preaching against people who had turned against him in his home
~ most that were fingered had problems with Minister Samuel Parris
Puritan Unrest Causes
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Charter Revoked in 1684
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Pirates (French)
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Wheat blight (ergot theory)
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Small Pox Epidemic
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Indian Wars (orphans)
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Taxes ( for wars, big increase in 1691)
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Immigration
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Increasing secularization (rising dissent, more mercantile interests, Quakers)
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1666 (passed without any apocolyptic event, no second coming)
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