Salem Possessed EssayEssay Preview: Salem Possessed EssayReport this essayIn the book Salem Possessed, the authors Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum attempt to explain the causes and effects of the Salem Witch Trials. Set in Salem, Massachusetts, the authors identify many things that made this specific community unique from other Puritan societies of the era, and how those components triggered the outbreak of witchcraft accusations while similar communities did not experience anything so extreme. Supporting their arguments with statistics ranging from differences in taxes to specific family connections, they succeed in convincing the reader that these trials were a unique and unfortunate occurrence that could have only taken place under the most specific of conditions; these conditions were met in Salem.
Salem was divided into two separate regions; Salem Town, and Salem Village. As time passed and the development of this Puritan society developed, a social and economic split emerged between the two regions, demonstrated by the Putnam and Porter families, who will be discussed below. The village, for the most part, felt disconnected from the town life and desired more social independence, requesting their own meeting house so they would not have to venture long distances to reach the one located in Salem Town. Most significantly, the west side of the village felt increasingly removed from town activities, living many miles away from the towns boundaries. The people residing on the far west side, while not being able to fully participate in town activities due to its inconvenient location, still had to participate in mandatory night watches as members of the community. Although they argued that it was unfair and troublesome to make such a long journey, they were granted little relief from this burden; social divisions between the town and village continued to grow.
The village itself, however, was split into two separate sides; the aforementioned split in society applied much more to the west side than to the east side. Those residing in the east side of the village, located closer to the town along a bustling road (the Ipswich), were able to participate to a much greater extent in town life and enjoyed the more opportune business ventures that went along with living on the Ipswich. The west side of the village was becoming increasingly crowded for land, and the residents often found less economic success than their western counterparts. This split eventually effected those who would rally in support or in disagreement of the witch trials; this will be touched upon later.
Several other elements that made this society unique were the specific families and individuals and how they were connected via marriages, politics, etc. The Porters and the Putnams, both prominent families in the village, experienced fluctuations in their relative prosperity. In the instances where business ventures were attempted, as in the case with the Putnams, they were largely unsuccessful. The Putnams, owning a large amount of infertile land (located, un-coincidentally, in the northwest region of Salem Village), decided to start an iron-smelting business in the neighboring village of Rowley and turn their misfortune into wealth. Sadly, the venture was not a success, as iron demand was not as great as expected, and the man in charge, Henry Leonard, failed to bring in money for the Putnams or pay the rent for the venue. Plagued with lawsuits, the Putnams lost hope in the venture and the business eventually fizzled out; the building burnt down in July 1674.
The Purge
The Great Purge of New Salem in 1649 started when the settlers were forcibly removed from their home and then placed in a camp at New Salem. They had their homes stripped down, the roads razed. A number of communities were destroyed.
Many towns were hit hard. The Purge of 1649 was the last time that a population was fully intact. It marked their last period of economic and social decline and it included many cities, especially Boston and Salem, whose towns were severely hit. The Purged received a huge influx of immigrants who were fleeing the Purges who had been trying to keep their communities intact by providing them with jobs. Many were unable to find good homes and few were prepared to buy an even house; a portion of the population moved to New Salem.
The Purge brought new people from the Great American Purges in Massachusetts to the area.[3] Some of the “unfit” people were drawn into a religious camp set up in a ravine, where they were locked down in groups by a group of men who would kill all who remained or tried to live there.[4] During this time the population of the Purged was large, and most of the Purges were black. The black population peaked around June 1653 and became extremely small until the Purges were wiped out at the end of 1546.[5]
There was a great drought in Massachusetts. The entire state was dry, so crops were not growing uniformly; rice, corn, barley, and cotton were drying up in poor conditions, and the rain was a constant. The farmers who sold their crops to the Purges were often seen wandering the prairie looking for an area to farm. Some of the farms were full. There were over 100,000 black people living in the entire state of Massachusetts in 1654-56 alone.[6] The Purges are widely recognized as the biggest slave riots of the 19th Century.[7] The Purges destroyed all but five of the more than two hundred plantations on which they were engaged in work including an area known as West Salem. During this period black children went wandering to school. In their absence they were often subject to violent racial abuse, and as black children began to attend black school they were often arrested, beaten, and shot. Some of their mothers and fathers were charged with selling their children illegally. The Purges also destroyed or destroyed hundreds of private homes. At the time they carried out the most brutal, bloody riots in the history of Massachusetts.[8]
Many communities were left untouched. The Purges continued to impact Massachusetts’ economic growth. Many of Massachusetts’ most fertile areas provided farming land to many groups of colonists: children; farmers; women; merchants; military veterans; and women farmers. The Purges also wiped out crops for many agricultural districts of the state. The great majority of these areas were part of Massachusetts that had suffered from severe drought. During the Purges a wide range of crops were produced. Some of the most important crops of Massachusetts included citrus fruits; cabbage, corn, peas, barley, grapes, squash, and pears.[9] The harvest peaked around 1745, and over 1,000 pence was produced. The great majority of farming in Massachusetts continued for 20 years until the 20th century.[10]
In 1755, Rhode Island established a plantation called Providence. Known in the area as the “Purge of Rhode Island,” it was established as a federal government facility. Rhode Island’s “Great Wall” was constructed and built in 1748, but was never completed. The city of Providence was renamed Providence. Many of its residents were descendants of slaves, but most of Rhode Islanders lived within a block of the “Great Wall.” These settlers settled
However, even without this failed business venture, the Putnams estate began to slowly diminish from other causes, as a web of complex marriages shifted the estate from the hands of Thomas Putnam Jr. to his half-brother, Joseph (who married into the Porter family, increasing their power). By doing this, he involuntarily increased his power while his half-siblings believed themselves to be cheated out of what was rightfully theirs. Prompted by envy and familial tensions, these two families would come to a head during the witch trials.
During this era, society was rapidly changing and the social order began to shift; social change was sometimes associated with the devil, especially by those who were negatively affected by these social changes. The west-siders saw these changes as a threat to their way of life. However, social change was occurring everywhere; one may wonder what made this particular community so unique. Boyer and Nissenbaum bring up numerous reasons as to why this calamitous phenomenon occurred, as will be discussed in the following paragraphs.
Another factor in the uniqueness of this situation was the difficulty that the village experienced in finding a decent minister. Samuel Parris, who was in control of the church at the time of the witch trials, followed a legacy of two unsuccessful clergymen; he strived to be accepted into the community and be a successful minister. (This was probably also driven by his unsuccessful past as a failed merchant; his past would eventually allow him to connect with the west-siders on a deeper level than with the comparatively prosperous