The Book of a Rich Hard Wise Man

It must first be understood that Satan played an enormous role in belief system of those living in Salem Village. They were supposed to be a “city on a hill”, or so says John Winthrop, as an example for other colonies that a deep belief in God would allow them to prosper. If they were pious and good, they would be rewarded with success and health, but it they fell from God’s graces they would be punished with famine, drought, Indian attack, or anything that is really bad. If there were witches in Salem, then they may incur the wrath of God, and He would cause them to fail, out of reasons of impiety. Also, at that time, there was a glaring paradox the ministers had waltz around, and that was that Satan made people sin, but in order for him to do that God would have to allow him to do so. This was a tight rope that ministers had to walk in their sermons. But regardless, Satan made people sin, and witchcraft was definitely a sin.

At the time, there were two types of witchcraft: malefic and bewitchment. With malefic witchcraft, there was traditionally a dispute over land or animals, or with some purchase, and the displeased side in the transaction lodged a complaint. Victims of malefic witchcraft were primarily male. Meanwhile, bewitchments, whose victims were primarily females and under the age of twenty, were situations where the victim would be subjected to physical harm or pain, or were “haunted.” The major difference in any witch was that while secularly the witch could harm people, theologically it had left the graces of God and sinned. These were the two types of witches that can be distinguished between in the trials. Meanwhile, as this was going on, the townspeople believed in lucky charms (not the cereal with the leprechaun) and other such magical powers that could prevent witchcraft from entering a household, such as nailing a horseshoe to a threshold, and the feeding of a witch cake (cornbread used with the afflicted child’s urine instead of water) to the dog. Salem is a place that, at the same time, believes in luck and magic to keep them safe from other magic that can harm them and their possessions.

Weisman presents all of this to set up the accounts of 1692. The accusations started, and then multiplied, got out of hand, and then (as the townspeople overturned the court of Oyer and Terminer) just stopped, which seems rather peculiar. One possibility that Weisman gives for the initial spark to the trials was a social cause. Weisman believes that factions arose, dividing the town in pro-Parris and anti-Parris groups, and that helped fuel the accusations being bandied about. Most of this argument is posed in the book written about the same subject, by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum in the book Salem Possessed. That book, however, has quite specious proof, as the main crux of the argument is based on sources that were three years apart, and could very easily have been faulty.

The second, and more convincing, evidence Weisman gives is the strange methods in which names were collected. When people were convicted of witchcraft, they had the option to confess. If they confessed, they would not be hanged. But when giving a confession, they would be asked to give another name of a witch. This is one clear attempt for the state to elicit more witch fervor, as well as a persuasive way to get names, “Give us your name, plus someone else, or we kill you.” Although, many of the accusations came from the young children (mostly girls) who were at risk of being accused, themselves. The magistrates knew this, and used it to their advantage:

Early in the proceedings, it became apparent that the magistrates regarded the victim of bewitchment and the perpetrator of bewitchment as easily reversible identities. In practice if not in theory, the judges perceived in each of the afflicted a potential witch and in some of the suspects a potential ally of the court.

The court magistrates used the children’s fear of being accused against them, to prod for more names. Things were really looking like the state was definitely trying to perpetuate these trials for some reason.

But despite all this, all of this, the question still remains, “Why?” Why would the state perpetuate all of these trials? Weisman argues that if the state only wanted to create self-vindication, there would not have been as much pressure to create so many accusations through siding with the afflicted. But instead, the state was going after communal regeneration, and therefore could not relax in their diligence toward convictions and accusations. This all goes back to the “City on the Hill” ideal. This is the crux of Weisman’s argument.

Further proof can be seen in what appears to be a cover-up of the whole episode. Governor Phips concealed the records of the court where injustice was committed. So, following the axiom of “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” it becomes apparent that the court must have committed injustices. Because if they had not committed injustices there would have been no reason to conceal the documents. Anything short of full disclosure would cast a large shadow of doubt on Governor Phips and the courts.

What Weisman argues is that the state perpetuated the trials through several means, such as coaxing afflicted children to accuse others and eliciting confessions and more names from the convicted witches in turn for their freedom. The state was not worried about individual salvation, but rather was worried about communal regeneration. In the process, the court committed injustices against the people, and as soon as the people overturned the Court of Oyer and Terminer, the accusations ground to a near halt. Furthermore, the Governor attempted to cover up the injustices by the court by concealing the records. And therefore the entity responsible for the Salem witch hunts getting so out of hand was the state.

Works Cited:

Weisman, Richard. Witchcraft, Magic, and Religion in 17th-Century Massachusetts. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1984.