Selena Rodriguez
Professor Martinez
ENGL2327-103
1 October, 2016
Salem
Salem, when people hear this word their mind goes back to a time in history when innocent people suffered for being wrongly accused of a wrong doing. In the late 1600s, people in Massachusetts were being blamed and prosecuted for crimes they did not commit. The people of Massachusetts would be held accountable for crimes they did not commit and end up paying with their life. People like Cotton Mathers had something to say about these unjustifiable killings. In Mather’s “The Wonders of the Invisible World” talks about the religion during this time and their lack of knowledge about “witches”
In the 17th century a major thing anywhere in America was religion. If a person was …show more content…
Mathers mentions, “… he has therefore drawn forth his more spiritual ones to make an attack upon us” (329). In this phrase what Mathers is trying to say is that the devil himself has come in contact with some of the towns people of Salem and turned them to his side. According to the History of Massachusetts, the trials were scapegoating (Brooks). Which meant the fear of the devil and the fear that he had helpers doing his dirty work. In Salem it was believed that the devil chooses certain towns people and gives them power to hurt others that have hurt them. In return the town people that he had choose would have to remain loyal to him. This belief is what causes an uprising of accusing people of being witches and working with the devil. Religion plays a big role during this time, because people used it to explain many …show more content…
He explains the ridiculous accusations that were made against her and he explains to the reader what these accusations did for Martha in the end. The accusations that were made against Martha in the court were by towns people who claimed to have been tormented by Martha or her shape. The so called torments that Martha was involved in was that she bite, pricked, pinched, chocked these people. Farmers even testified against her, claiming that the reason their cattle would die was because of Martha. One man named John Rogger testified that because of threatening words said by Marth, his cattle were strangely bewitched. Samuel Preston testified that 2 years ago he had experience an argument with Martha and strangely he lost a cow. However, Martha told him he would lose another and his cow then died. There were many other accusations made against Martha. However, in this day and age every single one of those accusations can be explained. For instance, the farmers claimed that their cattle would die because of Martha. However, that probably isn’t the case because cattle die they are not meant to live forever. Many animals get bit, or get sick from eating something bad just like humans. As for cattle disappearing it’s very common that the cow either found a way to wander off or could have gotten stolen. The thing is people did not have this knowledge back then. They automatically assumed it was something evil. According to The Salem
Professor Martinez
ENGL2327-103
1 October, 2016
Salem
Salem, when people hear this word their mind goes back to a time in history when innocent people suffered for being wrongly accused of a wrong doing. In the late 1600s, people in Massachusetts were being blamed and prosecuted for crimes they did not commit. The people of Massachusetts would be held accountable for crimes they did not commit and end up paying with their life. People like Cotton Mathers had something to say about these unjustifiable killings. In Mather’s “The Wonders of the Invisible World” talks about the religion during this time and their lack of knowledge about “witches”
In the 17th century a major thing anywhere in America was religion. If a person was …show more content…
Mathers mentions, “… he has therefore drawn forth his more spiritual ones to make an attack upon us” (329). In this phrase what Mathers is trying to say is that the devil himself has come in contact with some of the towns people of Salem and turned them to his side. According to the History of Massachusetts, the trials were scapegoating (Brooks). Which meant the fear of the devil and the fear that he had helpers doing his dirty work. In Salem it was believed that the devil chooses certain towns people and gives them power to hurt others that have hurt them. In return the town people that he had choose would have to remain loyal to him. This belief is what causes an uprising of accusing people of being witches and working with the devil. Religion plays a big role during this time, because people used it to explain many …show more content…
He explains the ridiculous accusations that were made against her and he explains to the reader what these accusations did for Martha in the end. The accusations that were made against Martha in the court were by towns people who claimed to have been tormented by Martha or her shape. The so called torments that Martha was involved in was that she bite, pricked, pinched, chocked these people. Farmers even testified against her, claiming that the reason their cattle would die was because of Martha. One man named John Rogger testified that because of threatening words said by Marth, his cattle were strangely bewitched. Samuel Preston testified that 2 years ago he had experience an argument with Martha and strangely he lost a cow. However, Martha told him he would lose another and his cow then died. There were many other accusations made against Martha. However, in this day and age every single one of those accusations can be explained. For instance, the farmers claimed that their cattle would die because of Martha. However, that probably isn’t the case because cattle die they are not meant to live forever. Many animals get bit, or get sick from eating something bad just like humans. As for cattle disappearing it’s very common that the cow either found a way to wander off or could have gotten stolen. The thing is people did not have this knowledge back then. They automatically assumed it was something evil. According to The Salem