Reflection 1

How should society balance the need for tolerance with the need to protect itself?

The Salem witch trials which occurred in 1692 was one of the unfortunate diabolic trials that

happened in human history. This infamous trial saw twenty people executed and several

others jailed.

Belief in magic and superstition – especially in the devils works of giving certain humans

(witches) power to harm others in return for their loyalty surfaced in Europe as early as the

14th century, and was prevalent in colonial New England [ CITATION Fon17 \l 2057 ]. As a result

of these beliefs there has been some writings on such subjects by several authors notable

amongst them was Cotton Mather, - a respected Puritan Minister who in his book

“Memorable Providences relating to witchcrafts and Possessions” had given several accounts

of the existence of witch craft. And had also warned the Puritans of New England that they

settled in the devil’s territories, as a result the devil plans to bring spiritual attacks on them.

Cotton Mather’s written works resounds in his views regarding the Salem witch trials. He

views the trials were necessary to protect the churches in the country. And argues that if the

accused witches were innocent, any then did almost all of them pleaded guilty and confessed.

To him the confessions of the accused made it evident that there existed witches in the

community who afflicted pains and other misfortunes upon other people in the community.

According to Mather, even those of the accused who pleaded not guilty were not exonerated

because many persons testified against them. An example of such persons that pleaded not

guilty but were convicted was Bridget Bishop. She pleaded not guilty but was indicted for

bewitching several persons in the neighborhood based on the testimonies of others.

However, there are people who disagree with Cotton Mather’s views of the witch trials,

notable amongst them were Robert Calef and Thomas Brattle – both merchants.
Robert Calef, believes the accused were innocent and had been wrongfully executed. He does

not subscribe to Mather’s claims that, the devil has let loose his powers to some people to

afflict others in the community. Per Calef’s view if there is any devil that has been let loose at

all then that is the devil of envy, hatred, pride, cruelty and Malice. The foregoing suggest that

the accusations of the complainants and the judgement thereof were based on envy, hatred,

pride, cruelty and Malice. Calef also views the plight or afflictions of the “bewitched” and

their testimonies as they having contracted an unexplainable illness. Therefore, the

testimonies and evidence were not strong enough to be relied upon to convict innocent souls.

He therefore demands more enquiry into the matter.

Thomas Brattle on his part condemns the evidence that the jury or justices relied on to

convict the accused. He asserts that the philosophy that the justices based their judgement on

were wrought up with sorcery and superstition. Hence he disagrees with those who term that

method a new philosophy and has chosen to name it the “Salem superstition”. With regards to

the testimonies of Brattle, views that of the confessors were inconsistent but the judges still

believed them and gave an excuse for their inconsistency – claiming the devil sometimes

takes away their memory and imposes upon their brain.

A critical assessment of the arguments of the trio – Cotton Mather, Robert Calef and Thomas

Brattle reveals that; Cotton Mather’s claims of the existence of witchcraft hence interpreting

every misfortune or natural disaster in the community as the works of witches was a wrong

concept that became the blue print which the judges relied on to pass judgement irrespective

of the fact that he had warned them that spectral evidence lacks substance [CITATION myt19 \l

2057 ]. Mather’s justification of the trials based on the fact that the accused had pleaded guilty

coupled with the several testimonies that people brought against the accused was frivolous,

because those who confessed guilty were not actually guilty but did so wave in several

innocent souls in order to have their sentence reduced from execution to a jail term knowing
very well that they have been held guilty until proven innocent. One of such persons was

Tituba, a Caribbean slave accused of witchcraft who confessed guilty and mentioned other

participants in her aim to reduce her sentence. She knew it would be hard to prove herself

innocent in such a case coupled with the fact that she had been held guilty until proven

innocent, her only chance to survive a death penalty was to confess to something she never

did; positioning herself as an informer and mentioning the names of other innocent

persons[ CITATION his19 \l 2057 ].

Clearly, Robert Calef and Thomas Brattle were not arguing on whether or not witchcraft

exists. Their arguments was based on the kind of evidence that the justices relied on to pass

judgement. I do agree to their argument that the judgement was based on spectral evidence in

which there are no rules from either reason or religion to test and prove the reliability of such

evidence. For example witch craft may exist but the fact that someone’s misfortunes is as a

result of another person bewitching him or her require a scientific enquiry. No wonder in an

attempt to find scientific explanation to the weird anguish suffered by those “bewitched”

residents, a study published in Science Magazine in 1976 mentioned the fungus ergot (found

in rye, wheat, and other cereals) can cause symptoms such as delusions, vomiting and muscle

spasms[ CITATION his19 \l 2057 ].

In deed the Salem witch trials had more to do with intolerance than they did with witchcraft.

For example, most of the complainants were from Salem Village whilst almost all the

defendants were from Salem Town. This trend in the trials suggest that most of the accusers

did so out of envy, hatred, cruelty and malice[ CITATION Bro11 \l 2057 ].

Also, years after the trials there have been some apologies from people who played

significant roles in the trials. For example, Ann Putnam, one of the girls who accused people

of bewitching them apologized 13 years after the trials. Ann said, “It was a great delusion of
Satan that deceived me in that sad time, whereby I justly fear that I have been instrumental,

with others though ignorantly and unwitting, to bring upon myself and this land the guilt of

innocent blood[ CITATION Gra12 \l 2057 ].

References
Brooks, R. B., 2011. historyofmassachusetts.org. [Online]

Available at: https://historyofmassachusetts.org/the-salem-witch-trials/

[Accessed 16 June 2019].

Foner, E., 2017. Give me liberty: An American History. 5th ed. New York: Norton.

Grace, T., 2012. people.ucls.uchicago.edu. [Online]

Available at: https://people.ucls.uchicago.edu/~snekros/Salem

%20Journal/Aftermath/GraceT.html

[Accessed 16 June 2019].

history.com, 2019. history.com. [Online]

Available at: https://www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/salem-witch-trials

[Accessed 15 June 2019].

mythologyteacher.com, 2019. mythologyteacher.com. [Online]

Available at: http://mythologyteacher.com/documents/TheSalemWitchTrialsWorksheet.pdf

[Accessed 13 June 2019].

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