Salem Possessed By Paul Boyer And Stephen Nissenbaum

The Salem Witch trials were more than just accusations and women being sentenced to death. Politics, social status, and way of living back then all played essential roles in the trials which are discussed throughout the book â€Å"Salem Possessed† by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum. The authors touch upon how social status of church members, farmers and community folk impacted who was accused of witchcraft and who was sentenced to death. While times have changed and the laws regarding imprisonment are very different, it is essential to remember that while the techniques and methods used during the witch trials were common back then and just their way of life. Salem Village was facing a wide variety of governmental and economical problems,†¦show more content†¦The authors discredit the claim that the witch trials were merely an excuse to eliminate the poor. In fact, the witch accusations, while they did begin with less wealthy members of the community, made their way to the top of the social ladder effecting members of the church and government. The majority of accusations were of women and girls, but once a female member of a family was accused it was common for other members of that family to be accused too regardless of their sex. Looking at the patters of the accusations, it becomes clear to the reader that all social classes were involved. From the early stages of accusations, the â€Å"fist three women accused could be seen as â€Å"deviants† or â€Å"outcasts† in their community† (31) which later spread to ministers, people of all ages, and both genders. Ministers however took a different approach to the accusations. Instead of being afraid of being put on trial, they viewed their accusation as a sign from God to help heal others. â€Å"By encouraging and even exploiting the usual behavior of the young people in their communities, both ministers had managed to turn a potentially damaging situation to their own benef it† (29). Although exploiting many people. the ministers were the only group who tried to see a light in the witch trials situation. Many members of the community lived in fear of beingShow MoreRelatedAmerican History to 18871148 Words   |  5 PagesPaul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaums Salem Possessed explores the pre-existing social and economic divisions within the Salem Village community, as an entry point to understand the accusations of witchcraft in 1692. According to Boyer and Nissenbaum, the village split into two factions: one interested in gaining more autonomy for Salem Village and led by the Putnam family, and the other, interested in the mercantile and political life of Salem Town and led by the Porter family. Boyer and NissenbaumsRead More Salem Witchcraft Essay2617 Words   |  11 PagesSalem Witchcraft Witchcraft accusations and trials in 1692 rocked the colony of Salem Massachusetts. There are some different views that are offered concerning why neighbors decided to condemn the people around them as witches and why they did what they did to one another. Carol Karlsen in her book The Devil in the Shape of a Woman and Bernard Rosenthal in Salem Story give several factors, ranging from woman hunting to shear malice, that help explain why the Salem trials took place andRead More Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft Essay465 Words   |  2 Pages Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft, Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press copyright 1974. The purpose of this book was to examine the history and social life of Salem Village to try to figure out what was the cause of the events that occurred there. I believe that the authors achieved their objective at least they did to me. Boyer and Nissenbaums explanation for the outbreak of witchcraft accusations in Salem hinges on an understanding of theRead More Comparing Salem Possessed by Paul Boyer, The Story of the Salem Witch Trials by Bryan Le Beau, and Devil in the Shape of a Woman by Carol Karlsen1819 Words   |  8 PagesComparing Salem Possessed by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, The Story of the Salem Witch Trials by Bryan Le Beau, and The Devil in the Shape of a Woman by Carol Karlsen The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 spread just about as fast as the Black Plague. This epidemic caused chaos among neighbors in a community. The chronology of events describes an awful time for colonists from June 10th to September 22nd of that year. The books Salem Possessed by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, The StoryRead MoreThe Trials Of The Salem Witch Trials1455 Words   |  6 Pagesthat the majority of humans are skeptical, if not reluctant to understand or accept that which unknown or different from what they previously considered being true, right, or normal. Such was the case in 1692 when over a hundred people from the Salem Town, Salem Village, and surrounding areas of Massachusetts were accused of witchcraft, leading to numerous arrests and even executions. The events that transpired in the small New England colony have intrigued, seduced, and baffled historians since theirRead MoreEssay about Witchcraft in Salem1406 Words   |  6 PagesWitchcraft in Salem In the past, the word Salem has always been somewhat synonymous with the infamous witch trials. Thanks to works such as Arthur Miller’s â€Å"The Crucible†, many people find it hard not to envision a community torn apart by chaos, even though Miller’s play was not so much about the witch trials but instead a commentary on the rampant McCarthyism going on at the time he wrote it. Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, however, see a very different picture when the Salem witch trialsRead MoreSalem Witch Trials And The Witch Trial Essay2225 Words   |  9 Pages1692 to 1693, twenty people were executed after being accused of witchcraft in Salem Village, Massachusetts, many more died in jail, and around 200 people total were accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. Records from the event indicate that the Salem Witch Trials started when a group of young girls began acting strange, claiming they had been possessed by the Devil and bewitched by local villag ers. The Salem Witch Trials is a much debated event; historians argue over the motivation andRead MoreThe Crucible Narrative2336 Words   |  10 Pages | | |4/3/2012 | In 1692, in Salem Massachusetts a small group of girls joined together to go in the woods at night to meet a slave woman name Tituba. Tituba is a slave of Reverend Parris. During their meeting all the girls are dancing amongst a fire pit that will be used for collectingRead MoreCarlo Ginzburgs Salem Possessed : The Social Origins Of Witchcraft?2004 Words   |  9 Pagesdetail on the many trials associated with the benandanti during this time. In Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum’s work, Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft, the two authors give an in-depth look into the witch trials that plagued Salem Massachusetts in 1962. The authors analyze the people of the town and the deep-rooted disagreements that these people shared. Boyer and Nissenbaum try to discover why Salem had so many witch craft accusations as well as why it happened when it did. InRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials : A Day By Day Chronicle Of A Community Under Siege Essay1671 Words   |  7 PagesT he book I have chosen to write about is â€Å"The Salem Witch Trials: A Day by Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege† written by Marilynne K. Roach and published in 2002. Marilynne K. Roach is the president of the Historical Society of Watertown and a member of the Watertown Historical Commission board, she also is an active board member and a curator of the Salem Witch Museum. She has multiple books that have been published about the Salem and the trials that occurred in the late 17th and early 18th