The Witchcraft of Salem Village

The first thing this book does is go into greater detail than other books about the problem of the charter for Salem. American was still under British rule and control, and settlements had to have charters. Salem had lost theirs, and the loss of a charter could mean that the land that the people lived on might be taken away from them. This was one of the various forms of uncertainty that was bothering the people who lived in Salem Village, along with the ever-present fear of attacks by Native Americans.

The author then talks about the quarrels among the neighbors, and the bad reputation the village had for how it treated its ministers. She also talks about the harsh living conditions in the village.

She then talks about the people named first as witches, and how they were easy targets, being poor, a slave, or just plain strange. Parris, the minister, also was quick to take advantage of the situation, to increase his own personal importance.

The book says that Tituba implied there were 5 witches all toll, but other books have said she implied that there were 9 witches.

The people of the village were encouraged to inform on others, anyone that acted in any way strange. This is very similar to what happened in Nazi Germany, especially in relation to the Jews.

The book has something I haven't seen elsewhere; Martha Corey's trial as a witch was influenced by a personal grudge one of the judges held against her when she said something that implied that he was not right in his approach.

The author goes into more detail about the various feuds and bad feeling among adults in Salem Village, all of which could have heavily influenced the witch accusations and trials.

There was a guy named Robert Calef who wrote pamphlets about what was going on. He was trying to expose the falseness of the charges and other actions. The girls accused him of being a witch, but he threatened to sue them for a thousand pounds, and they withdrew the charge.

The author holds that the total number of people executed for witchcraft world-wide was two million.

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