The Salem Witch Trials 1688-1693: The Salem Witch Trials convey the idea that women were did not hold the power that men held in their social, political, and religious society.
By rapa
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Intial Outbreak
"Following an argument with laundress Goody Glover, Martha Goodwin, 13, begins exhibiting bizarre behavior. Days later her younger brother and two sisters exhibit similar behavior. Glover is arrested and tried for bewitching the Goodwin children. Reverend Cotton Mather meets twice with Glover following her arrest in an attempt to persuade her to repent her witchcraft. Glover is hanged. Mather takes Martha
Goodwin into his house. Her bizarre behavior continues and worsens" (Chronology). -
Preceding to the Intial Outbreak
Mather publishes Memorable Providences, Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions (exact date in unkown but it came after the intial outbreak) (Mather). -
Preceding to Intial Outbreak
"Samuel Parris is named the new minister of Salem. Parris moves to Salem from Boston, where Memorable Providence was published" (Chronology). -
Short Video on the Salem Witch Trials
[Salem Witch Trials Video](<a href='http://www.history.com/topics/salem-witch-trials/videos/salem-witch-trials)' >Salem Witch Trials</a> (History.com) -
Outbreak of Accusation
"Eleven-year-old Abigail Williams and nine-year-old Elizabeth Parris begin behaving much as the Goodwin children acted three years earlier. Soon Ann Putnam Jr. and other Salem girls begin acting similarly. "
Children were also being targeted.(Chronology) -
Outbreak of Accusation
"Doctor Griggs, who attends to the "afflicted" girls, suggests that witchcraft may be the cause of their strange behavior" (Chronology). -
Outbreak of Accusation
"Based on formal complaints from Joseph Hutchinson, Thomas Putnam, Edward Putnam and Thomas Preston, Magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin issue warrants to arrest Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba for afflicting Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam Jr. and Elizabeth Hubbard."
Notice how all these people being accused are all women. If women fell out of there roles in society they were accused. Women were expected to do household chores, which were the "weak" jobs (Breslaw). -
Outbreak of Accusation
Sarah Cloyce and Elizabeth Proctor are examined before Deputy Governor Thomas Danforth and members of the Governor's Council. On the same day Elizabeth's husband, John Proctor, becomes the first man accused of witchcraft and is jailed (Chron).
Men were harldy accused, so this was a first. The small amount of men that were accused had only been blamed because they were the husband, son, or other male relative of the accused female and were viewed as weak whcih made them easy to blame (Karlsen). -
Outbreak of Accusation
"Bridget Bishop is the first to be tried and convicted of witchcraft. She is sentenced to death" (Chronology).
Women also had no power in society. They had no control in any towns or cities so they were the first to blame (Breslaw). Since they were easy to blame, it was easy to blame them for beinging witches. People thought women had no control over themsleves, which made them think it was easy for women to be possesed by the devil (Karlsen). -
Aftermath
"Governor Phipps orders that spectral evidence no longer be admitted in witchcraft trials" (Chronology). -
Aftermath
"49 of the 52 surviving people brought into court on witchcraft charges are released because their arrests were based on spectral evidence" (Chronology). -
References
Mather, C. (1688). Memorable Providences. Salem,Massachusetts.
Breslaw, Elaine G. "Gender." Witches of the Atlantic World: A Historical Reader & Primary Sourcebook.
New York: New York UP, 2000. 283-354.
Karlsen, Carol F. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England. New York:
Norton, 1987. Print.
History.com Staff. (2011). Salem Witch Trials. Retrieved May 02, 2016, from
http://www.history.com/topics/salem-witch- trials -
References
Chronology of Events Relating to the Salem Witchcraft Trial of 1692. (n.d.). Retrieved May 03, 2016, from http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/ASAL_CH.HTM -
Conclusion
Today, women dont have specific roles in society, but back then they did. These roles where women had the "weak" jobs and had to stay at home finally ended in the 1950s. These roles have been carried out through time and now they have turned into stereotypes which we still have today.
