New England's Crises And Cultural Memory By John Mcwilliams

In his book New England's Crises and Cultural Memory, John McWilliams points to what he sees as an overlooked aspect of the historical interpretations of the Salem witch trials, particular the significance of the "racial and wartime dimensions of the Salem witch trials [which] should have been so long obscured within the progressive New England historical tradition" (161). McWilliams makes reference to the early historian George Bancroft and how his analysis of the trials was in error and that it mistakenly placed a disproportionate emphasis on "New England's change from credulous Puritanism to the Age of Reason" (161). One can see how Bancroft's analysis, that the hysteria of the time was a reaction to the shift in how people of

the colonies …show more content…
The description of the spectral images that were witnessed in Essex county by the early colonists were quite distinct from any previous conception that might have been had of a witch, but as McWilliams points to these spectral images conjured up an intense fear that was felt even more so with women who had endured the brutal attacks by the Wabanaki tribe (163). An extremely interesting position that McWilliams takes with regards to the occurrence of these spectral images is in relation to a direct relationship that those of Essex county made between these images and their own Christian ministers (163). George Burroughs, a dark-skinned minister, who had previously been accused of conducting black masses and of being a wizard in Salem Village was an easy target for those looking to prosecute (McWilliams 164). Burroughs accusers cited the fact that the minister must have had a pact with the devil and by doing so was able to gain knowledge of Indian attacks before they occurred, as he was able to escape twice uninjured in such attacks (McWilliams 166). In a fervor to come up for explanations for a wide spread panic which was engulfing the colony, those who had power were wielding it without hesitation as Burroughs was executed for his pact with Satan (168 McWilliams). In considering the intense relationship that the …show more content…
What is described as a "cultural performance," Karlsen claims that these performances were representative of a ritual that the young New England girls were performing and that the ministers and townspeople were much like that of an interactive audience (231). Karlsen points out that as the play continued around a battle between good and evil was taking place for the whole town to witness and minsters found themselves attempting to explain this inner conflict that the young women were displaying, which ultimately became a conflict with Satan (Karlsen 231). As Karlsen views the evidence of the witch trials as a "ritual expression of Puritan belief and New England's gender arrangement," and fundamentally a protest against societal norms (240). This is a particularly interesting view point and to think upon the structure of society in the late 17th in early colonial times it paints a compelling argument as to what could have led to such physical displays of rebellion from the afflicted. Being so bound by their culture and Puritan beliefs it is not hard to imagine that these young girls could have been manifesting an inner struggle as to how they were going to maneuver