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Puritanism is a Christian faith which originated in England during the early seventeenth century. The ideals which separate Puritans from other Christians include their strict belief in predestination. This term refers to the idea that God has previously chosen those who will be saved, and an individual can do nothing to change this status. The Puritan Covenant of Grace calls for all Puritans to be actively faithful. The Covenant of Works is the belief that those who follow God's moral codes will be blessed with eternal life.
The Puritans split from the Church of England in 1633. When William Laud became the new
Archbishop of Canterbury, the new beliefs he brought were unacceptable to those members who
sought to "purify" the Church. These new beliefs included emphasis on individual acceptance
or rejection of God's grace, toleration for a variety of religious beliefs, and the incorporation
of "high church" symbols.
Early in the seventeenth century, groups of Puritans began leaving Europe to travel to the American colonies.
The New England region became the center for Puritans, but the group was spread throughout the area north of
Virginia. The main goal of these immigrants was to form a religious community in which their "pure" ideals could
be central. The radical beliefs of the Puritans flourished in the New World. By keeping a strong connection between
Church and State, the Puritans were able to control most of the colonies' activity until the end of the seventeenth
century.
The Puritans held five basic beliefs.
These central beliefs, along with an extreme emphasis on preaching and the laws contained within the Bible itself formed the strict ideals of American Puritanism.
Like all Puritans, the residents of Salem Village believed in witches and in
witchcraft. They believed that witchcraft was "entering into a compact with
the devil in exchange for certain powers to do evil."
Early in 1692, the witch hunt hysteria began in Salem, Massachusetts. Reverend Samuel Parris' daughter and Abigail Williams started having fits of convulsion, screaming, and hallucination. A doctor examined the girls and decided that the only explanation for these wild spells was witchcraft. The girls then pointed their fingers at Tituba (a Parris family slave), Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne as the witches who had afflicted them. Cotton Mather had recently published his Memorable Providences. This book detailed witchcraft and the symptoms of the afflicted. Since Betty Parris' fits were much like those described in Mather's book, the Puritans of Salem were very accepting of the doctor's conclusion and the resulting accusations.
Magistrates John Hawthorne and Jonathan Corwin inherited the responsibility of examining the three accused women. On March 1, 1692
the two began questioning the women. They asked each woman the same questions: Are you a witch? Have you seen the devil? How do you
explain the afflictions of these girls? Based on this line of questioning, it is clear that the magistrates and all of Salem had already
judged the three women guilty.
In the following months, many more were accused of witchcraft. Martha Corey, Bridget Williams, Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Cloyce, and Mary Eastick all faced charges of witchery. Overloaded with all the new trials, Governor William Phips created a special court to hear the witch cases. The court was known as the Court of Oyer and Terminer. The trials quickly spiraled out of control, and a number of suspected witches were convicted and hanged. Bridget Bishop, Rebecca Nurse, and John Proctor all died as convicted witches. Those who stood trial for the crime of witchcraft could be convicted based on gossip or hearsay. Practically the only way to avoid execution was to admit to being a witch. During 1692, nineteen people refused to confess and died as a result.
While the specific trials of 1692 are important to America's history, the impact of the Salem Witch Trials is deeper than the simple chronology of events.
The hysteria that snowballed in Salem reveals how deep the belief in the supernatural ran in colonial America. David Hall noted that "The religion of the colonists was
infused with ancient attitudes and practices, some indeed so old as to antedate the rise of Christianity."
As early as 1450, and even before, there is evidence of witch hunts in all
parts of Europe. The first known incidents of modern witch hunts involved
the extermination of all females of certain villages. An event of this nature
occurred in the 12th century in Russia. All the women of the village were
taken from their homes and executed as witches. Similarly, in 1492 in Lagendorf,
all but two women of a small village were accused of witchcraft.
Witch hunts also existed as a part of politics. As early as the 14th century,
the devil was considered a political enemy of the state.
"Dear Child, 6 have confessed against me at once: the chancellor, his son, Neudecker, Zaner, Hoffmaisters Ursel, and Hoppfen Else- all false through compulsion, as they have all told me, and begged my forgiveness in God's name before they were executed...They know nothing but good of me. They were forced to say it, just as I myself was."
In Europe, the popular view of women was the source of witch hunt hysteria. Women were seen as inherently evil and sexual, and therefore possible
targets for the devil. There were strong ties between the idea of witchcraft and sexuality. If a woman did not exhibit purity and innocence, she revealed
her connection with evil.
"Because the female sex is more concerned with things of the flesh than men; because being formed from a man's rib, they are only 'imperfect animals' and 'crooked' whereas man belongs to a priveleged sex from whose midst Christ emerged."12
When Puritan settlers came to the colonies in America, they brought their preexisting ideas about women and magic with them. The ancient fear of contact with the devil and sexual deviance made witchcraft a sensitive spot for Europeans, including the Puritans. Deeply embedded fears led to the paranoia which provoked witch hunts on both sides of the Atlantic. In Europe and in the colonies one accusation turned into many, and one trial became an unremitting hunt.
Puritanism Websites
Puritanism in New England
The origins of Puritanism, as well as the religion's main values. This site also
includes descriptions of the Puritan church's policy of membership.
http://www.gonzaga.edu/faculty/campbell/enl310/purdef.htm
The Character of an Old English Puritan
This site provides a document which describes the ideal Puritan of Colonial America.
http://www.cet.com/~mtr/GereeChar.html
Puritanism
This is a great website with general information about Puritanism. It also makes distinctions between English and American Puritans.
http://www.mb-soft.com/believe/txc/puritani.htm
European Witch Trial Websites
The Witch Trials
The European origins of witch hunts began as early as the 14th century.
This site explores the history of these European persecutions, and explains
the reasons for such suspicions.
http://www.thestrawguy.com/witches/
Witch Hunts
This site takes a detailed look at the European witch trials and explains the social
effects of the hysteria.
http://www.virtualschool.edu/mon/SocialConstruction/WitchHunts.html
European Witch Hunts
A detailed description of the roots of the witch trials which even spread to the Americas by the seventeenth century.
http://www.kings.edu/womens_history/witch.html
The Witch Hunts: The End of Magic and Miracles
This portion of a book called The Dark Side of Christian History by Helen Ellerbe explains the religious aspects of the witch trials in Europe.
http://www.warmcove.com/morningstar/chapter8.html
Witchcraze: A New History of the European Witch Hunts
This site tries to explain why the "witchcraze" began in Europe. It also
describes how suspected witches were characterized and investigated.
http://www.pinn.net/~sunshine/book-sum/wichcrz.html
European Witch Hunts
The European witch hunts were deeply rooted in the fears Europeans had of women
and the sexuality of women. This site aims to describe the origins of the
suspicions surrounding women and to explain the traumatic persecution to which
many women were subjected.
http://www.Suite101.com/article.cfm/womens_history_old/11166
Misconceptions About the Great Witch Hunt
This site takes a closer look at the common misunderstandings of the facts of the burning era of the European witch hunts and seeks to explain the truth about this period.
http://www.netins.net/showcase/dragonoake/burning1.htm
Salem Trial Websites
Witchcraft in Salem Village
This site is designed to give a general, accurate overview of the witch trials in Salem,
Massachusetts in 1692.
http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/
The Salem Witch Trials of 1692: A Chronology of Events
This website lists a chronology of the most important events surrounding
the Salem Witch Trials. It begins in late January of 1692, and carries
us through the end of the hysteria in late November of that same year.
http://salemweb.com/memorial/default.htm
Famous American Trials: Salem Witchcraft Trials 1692
This site provides an account of the events of 1692. It also provides links to important
documents involved in the trials.
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SALEM.HTM
The Salem Witch Trials
This is a great website listing those accused of witchcraft in Salem, giving a timeline of the events, and providing transcripts of the trials themselves.
http://www.salemwitchtrials.com/
Historical Text Archive: Salem Witch Trials
A simple overview of the facts of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.
http://www.geocities.com:80/Athens/Forum/9061/USA/Colonial/Witch.html
Salem Witch Museum Website
This is the homepage for the Salem Witch Museum. It gives a brief summary of the trials, shows pictures of landmarks in Salem, and provides information for visitors.
http://www.salemwitchmuseum.com/welcome.html
Witchcraft in Salem: Intersections of Religion and Society
This website gives a very brief overview of the witch trials, and it also offers a
brief discussion of the debates between historians about the causes for the witch hunt.
http://www.nhc.rtp.nc.us:8080/tserve/eighteen/ekeyinfo/salemwc.htm
American Fanaticism
This site focuses on portions from an article written by Paul Johnson which was printed in October, 1991 in The Spectator.
http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/puritan/puritan.html
Campbell, Donna M. Puritanism in New England. (http://www.gonzaga.edu/faculty/campbell/enl310/purdef.htm)
Bowden, Henry Warner.Puritanism. (http://www.mb-soft.com/believe/txc/puritani.htm)
Bowden, Henry Warner.Puritanism. (http://www.mb-soft.com/believe/txc/puritani.htm)
Sutter, Tim. Salem Witchcraft. (http://www.salemwitchtrials.com/salemwitchcraft.html)
Linder, Douglas. An Account of Events in Salem. (http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SAL_ACCT.HTM)
Hall, David H. Worlds of Wonders, Days of Judgment: Popular Religious Belief in Early New England, p. 99.
Godbeer, Richard. The Devil's Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England, p. 30.
The Witch Hunts. (http://www.thestrawguy.com/witches/)
The Witch Hunts. (http://www.thestrawguy.com/witches/)
Junius, Johannes. Part of a letter found in European Witchcraft, E. William Monter, p. 85.
Reasons Behind the Witch Hunts. (http://www.thestrawguy.com/witches/)
Nigg, Walter. The Heretics, p. 277.
The Salem Witch Trials 1692: A Chronology of Events. (http://www.salemweb.com/memorial/default.htm)
Created by Ashley E. Lowman
For Soc 257: New Religious Movements
University of Virginia
Spring Term, 2000
Last modified: 03/02/01