Cotton Mather The Wonders Of The Invisible World Analysis

Cotton Mather wrote many works of literature taught future writers about the history of the New England colony. One of his literary works caught my eye. Cotton Mather’s “The Wonders of the Invisible World”, tells the reader about the Salem witch trials and the history of the event. Cotton Mather writes about the way he sees the event, but some people may see it differently. The trial of Martha Carrier is an odd trial. Most trials contain a lot of evidence, such as, two or more people seeing the person at the scene of the crime, but this trial does not contain that. One well-educated person in authority in the community introduced the idea of witchcraft to the public, so people accused other people of witchcraft without any evidence to prove …show more content…
Cotton Mather graduated from Harvard and he followed in his father’s footsteps when he took his place as pastor of the Second Church of Boston. Pastors held some authority during that time. People in the community saw him as a reliable source. If a well-educated and a person of high authority in a community tells people something happened, then more than likely the people will believe him. For example, if President Barack Obama tells the U.S citizens that Iran received nuclear weapons from Russia, then we will believe him because we do not contain the ability to confirm that statement. Cotton Mather stated, “I believe that never were more satanical devices used for the unsettling of any people under the sun, than what have been employed for the extirpation of the vine which God has here planted.” Although, Cotton Mather stated his opinion or belief people still believed what he said. This statement contains a belief of …show more content…
In order to charge somebody with a crime, somebody needs to contain evidence to support the accusation. For example, when people write papers, they must support their ideas or accusations with evidence from the reading. During the trial of Martha Carrier many people accused her of witchcraft without any evidence. First, a number of people approached the court about Martha Carrier tormenting them, so when Martha Carrier stood in front of a jury, it was based off of accusations with no evidence. Five different people stated that Martha Carrier caused their cattle to die. Cattle can die in many different ways. They cannot eat or drink enough, wolves could attack them, or many other reasons, so the accusation that she killed their cattle does not support witchcraft. Also, Allin Toothaker claims after Martha Carrier stood in front of a jury, his wound healed, but before he could stick a needle in it four inches deep. This so called “evidence” does not prove anything, his wound healing as she stood in front of a jury, could be a coincidence. Also, Benjamin Abbot claimed Martha Carrier gave him wounds over a dispute between Mr. Abbot and Martha Carrier’s husband over land. He claimed she gave him sores on his side and his groin and it lasted for six weeks until Martha Carrier stood before a jury. Also, he accused her of killing his livestock. None of these accusations support witchcraft because nobody presented proof