Hysteria of 1692? A Document Based Exercise The hanging and pressing of 20 people in lntroductory Note for Teachers shorter and easier version of student materials Salem, Masiachusetts, in the summer ol 1692 or a somewhat longer and more complex remains one oi the more perplexing and version. Each version contains a background essay, a document list, and the documents troubling events in American history. As with each oflhe document based exercises in this themselves. The teacher materials that follow series, teachers have the option of using a provide direction and support for both versions. Table of Contents Salem - Longer Version (LV) Teacher Materials Salem Lesson Plan Teacher Document List Teacher Document Notes Student Materials Cover Page Student Guide Sheet Salem Background EssaY Document Set (14) Salem - Shorter Version (SV) Teacher Materials Salem Lesson Plan Teacher Document List Teacher Document Notes Student Materials Cover Page Student Guide Sheet Salem Background EssaY Document Set (9) @ 2008 Th6 DBO Prolecl
Salem DBQ Lesson Plan - Longer Version (LV) Have students complete the Hook Exercise on supernatural berief. see Hook Exercise sheet and directions. Have students read the Background Essay. Be sure they are oriented in time (see Time Line) and place (see Map). Ask students to explain the meanings of predestination, fundamentalism, and hysteria. How seriously would a fundamientalist take a commandment found in the Bible? Before looking at the documents, ask sludents what they expect the documents to contain. (Possible explanations Ior why peopre were accused oiwitchcraft and hanged.) Have students examine the 14 documents for an organizational framework. For homework, ask students to organize the documents into an oufline where each of the several headings is a different cause category. (See Teacher Document List on page 4.) Explain that discoverrng the organ2ationar framework of a body of materiar is r,u!" toward understanding that material. lt has to do with seeing the big picture and " ls k-ey "tlp to remembering what is read. students might consurt the rist of documents in their pacriet. Outlines are due at the beginning of the next class. Discuss outlines. Working lrom sludents, homework, creale an outline that approaches the categorized Teacher Documenl List on page 4. using an overhead projector, examine one or more documents together as a crass. r\rroder the level of detail you expect for each document analysis. Then, individually, in pairs, or in groups of three, have students begin to work through the documents, writing comments either in the margins or on Document Analysis Sneets. (See Teachers, Tooliit.) Students complete document analysis. when students have finished their analyticar nores, conduct a fu crass discussion. Have transparencies ol serected documents avairabre for reference. Ask for vorunteers to come lomard to describe a document or cluster ol documents and assess its merits as a cause ol the hysteria. by asking -conclude students to take out a sheet of paper ano rank th- top three causes of the hysteria. Ask students to defend their ranking. Homework lf the lesson is to curminate in an essay, unress the skifl rever of your crass is high, one 1"1,1"^l I y:l!:q *orkshop is suggested. Srudents can wrire rhei; inrroducrory piragraphs T-:lT: :?Tpl"tiwirh_tifle,,.grabber,,,rhesis, and,,road map,, for how their pipe, *il Ue oeveroped. see step Five, The Anaryticar Essay, in The Teachers' Toolkit ror detaired suggestions. Write essay. tt olfv tlo.gys Day One: Read the Background Essay aloud in ctass. Then, 3,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,vai1ab1e. working individualy or in pairs, have studenls begin 6 rifl in the Document Anarysis sheets. students comprete worksheets ror homeilork. oay rio: tna fu crass discussion, organize the documents into cause categories, then discuis the rerative merits of each cause. An essay written at home could follow. lf one day available: Summarize the Background Essay. Put students in small groups. With document D projected on a screen for atmosphere, distribute Documents A, g, e, t, and J. Tell students they have 20 minutes to draft a 1oo-word theory as to what may have caused the witch trial hysteria in Salem. Share theories at end.
A Document Based Question (DBO) This page may be reproduced for classroom use
Salem DBQ TEACHER DOCUMENT L ST (LV) There are 14 documents in the Longer Version of this exercise organized around several different factors that may have contributed to the hangings and th-e pressing in Salem. Below is the authors' picture of how the documents are organized. ihe doc-ument list in the Student Materials follows the same order but is not divided into cause categories. Context Documents: The depth of belief Document A: Exodus 22: 18 Document B: Salem Death Toll Document C: Cotton Mather:..These evil spirits are all around.,, Document D: Painting: Examination of a Witch Factors of Gender, Marital Status, and Age Document E: Chart: The Accused and the Accusers Actors and Notoriety Seekers Document F: Examination of Bridget Bishop Document G: Charles Upham: A Historian's Opinion Hysterics Document H: Drawing and Commentary: A Hysterical Attack Class Conflict Document I: Map: The Geography of Witchcraft Document J: Boyer: A Historian's Analysis Land Dispute Document K: Trial Deposition: Ann putnam, Jr. Document L: Trial Deposition: Ann putnam, Sr. Document M: Boyer and Nissenbaum: Historians Comment A Hallucinogen Document N: Ergotism o 2006 Ihs obo Proi cl
DireCtiOnS: In the warm summer months of 1692, twenty women and men were put to death in Salem, Massachusetts, for practicing witchcraft. Why this happened has been the subject of historical debate for many years. Witchcraft hangings on this scale had never happened before in America and have never happened since. This document based exercise asks you for your educated opinion as to why they occurred. There are several steps to forming an educated opinion. 1. Read the Background Essay. It gives an overview of the Salem story. 2. Quickly skim through the 14 documents to get a sense of what they are about. 3. Read the documents slowly. For each, use the margins or Document Analysis Sheet to record: a. What or who is the source? Is it primary or secondary? b. What is the main idea (or the main ideas) in the document? 4. Organize the documents into theories or reasons by adding brackets and short labels in the list below. Sometimes one document by itself presents a theory. Sometimes two or three together present a theory. 5. Prioritize your reasons. What is the most important reason? What is second? 6. Explain your priorities. Why is one reason more important than another? The Documents: Document A: Exodus 22:18 Document B: Salem Death Toll Document C: Cotton Mather: "These evil spirits are all around." Document D: Painting: Examination of a Witch Document E: Chart: The Accused and the Accusers Document F: Examination of Bridget Bishop Document G: Charles Upham: A Historian's Opinion Document H: Drawing and Commentary: A Hysterical Attack Document I: Map: The Geography of Witchcraft Document J: Boyer: A Historian's Analysis Document K: Trial Deposition: Ann Putnam, Jr. Document L: Trial Deposition: Ann Putnam, Sr. Document M: Boyer and Nissenbaum: Historians Comment Document N: Ergotism This page may be reproduced for classroom use
Teacher Notes
On September 19, 1692,8l-year-old Giles Cory lay beneath several rough-sawn boards piled high with rocks. A tough old man, Giles had refused to testify on his own behalf in the Salem witchcraft trials. As another stone was added, his last words are believed to have been "More weight!" Something had gone terribly wrong. Why in the summer months of 1692 was Giles Cory pressed to death and 19 other Salem, Massachusetts, residents hanged? Beginning in 162O and continuing throughout the 1600s, a large number of English immigrants arrived in that part of North America known as New England. The leaders of these settlers were Puritans. Puritans were Protestant Christians who were unhappy with their mother church in England. They came to the new world so they could practice their Christianity in its purest form. The New England landscape and the Puritan belief system fit naturally together. Both were stern taskmasters. The New England climate was harsh with cold, unforgiving winters. New England soil was rocky and gave grudgingly of its corn, wheat, and leafy vegetables. Puritanism was equally demanding. Puritans believed in predestination, the idea that God elects before birth who will go to Heaven and who will not. Puritans lived with the possibility that they were damned to Hell. The Puritan ethic of hard work was partly an attempt to prove to themselves and others that they were among the elect. Perhaps for this reason, Puritans set a very high standard for themselves. In their own words, they were creating "a city upon a hill," a model of right belief and good conduct for the world to follow. It was like living in a glass house; every naughty word, every secret kiss, every angry gesture was there for God, if not the world, to hear and see. There was pressure in just being alive. To help guide them through this difficult life, Puritans turned to the Bible. Puritans were fundamentalists; they believed that every word in the Bible was the true word of God and was to be followed to the letter. But God was not the only supernatural power in this Puritan world. There was a darker force lurking in the wilderness. This force was the Devil, also known as Satan. The Devil was as sneaky as he was real. He could enter the body of a weak-willed person and recruit that person to become a witch. (In more precise terms, a woman who made a pact with the Devil was called a witch; a man was called a wizard.) Once under Satan's power, the witch or wizard could cause all kinds of trouble - shipwrecks, illness, even murder. Throughou t 17 th century New England, witchcraft was a crime punishable by death. Because the stakes were so high, evidence had to be solid. This was not easy, because the contract between the Devil and the soon-to-be witch took place inside the witch's mind. The most sought-after type of evidence by the courts was admission of guilt. Admissions of witchcraft did Harvard Un Washington
Teacher Notes
Background Essay (Continued) Salem DBQ 4of13 sometimes occur when a person believed he or she was practicing it. Such an admission often got the accused off the hook and out of the noose. According to Salem historians Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, the next most reliable form of evidence was supernatural strengths, weaknesses or unusual physical characteristics. A man who could hold a rifle, arm extended, with his finger in the barrel, was suspect. A woman who botched the words when saying the Lord's Prayer might be the Devil's agent. A person with an unexpected flap of skin growing on the body, the so-called "witch's tit," was a candidate for the gallows. Two other kinds of evidence of witchcraft were considered less persuasive, although they seem to have influenced certain New England magistrates. One was anger followed by mischief - a sidelong glance by the suspected witch followed quickly by an accident to the victim. The last and most fragile evidence was spectral evidence, testimony by the afflicted that they were "visited" by some demonic form. Because the victim's story of a spectral visitation was impossible to verify, it was regarded as flimsy evidence when taken alone. How common were witchcraft trials in the American colonies? In his book Entertaining Satan (1981), John Demos says that, not counting Salem, there were 93 cases in New England in the 17th century in which someone was tried in a court of law for being a witch. Sixteen people were put to death. At this same time witch trials were occurring in England, but the rates were lower. Sixteen witch hangings outside of Salem between 1620 and 1700 is a striking fact, but it seldom makes the history books. What put witchcraft front and center in American colonial history were the events of one year, in one town. These were the famous Salem, Massachusetts, witch trials of 1692. In a 15 week period from June 10 through September 22,1692,19 men and women from the Salem area were hanged for witchcraft. Another, an 8l-year-old man, was pressed to death by stones in an unsuccessful effort to force him to testify. More than 100 other suspected witches remained in Massachusetts jails when the trials and hangings were finally called to a halt by Governor Phips. The fact that the governor's own wife had recently been accused may have been the deciding factor in stopping the killing. The surface events leading to the trials have become part of American folklore. Two young Salem Village girls, Betty Parris, age nine, and her eleven-year-old cousin Abigail Williams, engaged a West Indian slave woman named Tituba to help them know their fortunes. TheY were especially interested in what their future sweethearts would be like. To find this out they used an New England TbdaY old trick of suspending an egg-white in a glass of water and looking for telltale shapes. Disturbingly, one of the girls thought she saw the shape of a coffin. Over the next several weeks and months the two girls began to exhibit strange behavior. Betty's father, the Reverend Samuel Parris, was the Salem Village minister and had for sometime been puzzledby the girls' "getting into Holes, creeping under Chairs and Stools,... (and) uttering foolish and ridiculous speeches..." Reverend Parris somehow learned about the magic seances with Tituba and concluded that this was no simple physical sickness, but the work of more sinister forces. The malady spread and other young girls were afflicted. Under pressure from Reverend Parris and other adults, @ 2008 Ths OBQ Protoct This page may be reproduced for classroom use
Background Essay (Continued) on February 29,1692, the girls identified two local white women and the slave Tituba as the witches who were causing them such pain. The Salem witch hunt was under way. The three accused women were carted off to jail in Boston. Only Tituba confessed to practicing witchcraft, an admission that saved her life. Over the next few weeks, despite fasting and prayer, the odd behavior of the girls continued. Then in late March the first adult supposedly fell victim to the witches' spell. Accusations increased and even included a four-year-old girl, who, though never hanged, would spend nine months in irons. Throughout March, April, and half of May the jails continued to fiil, but no trials were held because Massachusetts at this time was without a legal government. Finally, on May 14,1692, the new Governor Phips arrived from England. A special court was quickly set up and the first trials were held June 2. On June 10, Bridget Bishop from Salem Village was hanged. On July 19, five more people accused of witchcraft met the same fate. And so it continued until September 22, when a mass hanging of eight accused witches ended the executions. The tragedy at Salem was finally playing itself out. A key reason the hangings stopped was a sermon and manuscript written by the Puritan church leader Cotton Mather in early October. Mather acknowledged that witches Salem DBQ 5 of 13 could rightfully be put to death, but he argued that the evidence had to be very carefully weighed. Perhaps the key sentence in his sermon was the following: "It were better that ten suspected witches should escape, than that one innocent person should be condemned." Mather's caution reflected a shifting mood in Salem. By May of t693, the jails had been emptied and all the accused acquitted or pardoned. The hangings had ended, but the big question remains to this day: Why were 19 people put to death for witchcraft in Salem and another pressed to death by stones? Was it just bored pre-teen girls caught in their own fantasies and forced to play their story out? But if so, why did it not stop sooner? Why did it go beyond the accusations of Betty Parris and Abigail Williams? How could it extend, for example, to a several days' walk into Maine to implicate Rev. George Burroughs, a man who had left his ministry in Salem nine years before and was among the 19 hanged for witchcraft? Examine the 14 documents that follow and formulate your answer to the question: What caused the Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692? @ 2008 The DBQ Pro)ecl This page may be reproduced for classroom use
Teacher Document Notes - Longer Version (LV) Document A: Exodus 22:18 Content Notes:. As written in Exodus, the second book of the Old Testament, when Moses was leading the people of lsrael out of slavery in Egypt, he met God on Mount Sinai. lt was on this occasion that God presented Moses with the Ten Commandments. But there were many other commandments as well, dealing with matters ranging from slavery and compensation for fire damage, to injuring a pregnant woman. The injunction to put witches to death was on this longer list. See chapters 21 and 22 in Exodus. Teaching Tips:. Given that many Puritans were f undamentalists, ask students how important was the commandment to "not sutfer a witch to live." According to the Background Essay, the court in Salem freed witches who admitted their guilt. Does this mean the Salem Puritans weren't hard line fundamentalists after all? Document B: Salem Death Toll Content Notes:. Four cycles of hangings were the result of the court's sitting on a monthly basis.. Before the trials were stopped hundreds of people lrom several different towns were accused of witch_ craft. Many were in jail up to nine months before being freed.. Some interesting detail about a lew of the victims: Giles Cory refused to plead guilty or not guilty.this irascibte 81-year-old is betieved to be the only person to be pressed to death by court order in American history By laying a board over the accused and placing heavy stones on it one at a time, the magistrates hoped to force Cory to a plea. He refused and may have been killed accidentally. Before he died he testified against his third wife, Martha, who was hanged three days after his death. Teaching Tips:. ln Documents A-D no formal theory is presented about the causes ol the Salem trials. Bather, they will help students with context as they examine the historical arguments in the remaining documents.. Ask students to make generalizations about the victims and the data presented (mosfly female, killed in three large groups, etc.). What jumps out at the sludents? (Giles Cory,s pressing? date of last victim who died in jail?) Bridget Bishop had a long-standing reputa_ tion for witchcraft. She was not a member of Salem church and ran a tavern on the road leading to Salem Village. Sarah Good, born into a weallhy family, had lallen on hard times and by.1692 was ieduced to begging. George Burroughs was a lormer preacher in Salem. Before departing Massachusetts for Maine, he had several disagreements with the Thomas and Ann putnam family. He was retrieved from Maine by the court and brought to trial. 12 @ 2003 The DBQ Prolocl
Salem DBQ 6 of13 Document A q 江Notes Source: Exodus 22:18, King James version of the Bible. ollfwu sfinft rwt suffer o utitcfi to [ioe.' Document B Source: Adapted from Salem Court Records' SALEM WITCHCRArr HANGINGS 692 1 IJuly'91 1 July 19 July119 gusl 12 1 Augus119 gust 19 IⅢ gus119 轟器 1; ::1整 ll:: :::1鐵 ::; Slptさ Ⅲbこ =22 :::雛 13 0 2008 The DBQ Prolect This page may be reproduced lor classroom use
Salem DBQ Document C: Cotton Mather, "These evil Content Notes:. This document underscores the puritan assumption that witches were real and were agents ol the Devil. Without this basic reference poinl, students will have a diff icult time understanding the hysteria that swept over Salem.. The power of this document is its source. Cotton Mather's prestige was enormous. Along with his father, lncrease, (who was president o, Harvard in 1692), Cotton had been preaching throughout the 1680s about the threat posed by witches..lt is important to stress lhe link between the puritan Church and the Colonial government. Church and State in 17th century New England were not separate. The laws of the colony were in line with Church beliefs, and the leadership ol the colony was often in the hands of the most well-known ministers (i.e. Church beliefs influenced the trials directy).. The date is critical. Events in 1689, three years before the Salem outbreak, suggest a belief withln the leadership of the colony that supernatural outbreaks were on the rise. Some historians believe Cotton and his father, lncrease, helped stir up emotions before and during the Salem trials. spirits are all around.". Cotton Mather was so influential that his sermon on October 3, 1692, is credited with ending lhe trials. "lt is better that ten suspected witches..." (See Background Essay.) Teaching Tips:. Encourage students to view Documents A, B, and C as a group. Together they provide a context for the general leeling about witchcraft that permeated Puritan society. They do nol, howeve( answer the big question - Why was there so much trouble in Salem but not in other areas ol New England?. Ask students to brainstorm religious figures alive today who might have as much influence on their followers. (The Pope, Billy Graham, Louis Farrakhan, etc.). Ask students to make some judgment about Cotton Mather"s beliefs. Was he superstitious? Are his beliefs about witches silly? Are there any beliefs that we have as a society that in 3OO years might look superstitious or barbaric? (Not numbering the 13th floor in some high-rises?). Before concluding that Cotton Mather is backward or unenlightened, students should note he and his father supported the new small pox inoculation, though most colonists regarded it with suspicion. Document D: Painting: Examination of a Witch Content Notes:. The goal of this document is to help students feel and understand the drama ol a witch trial.. Key witch trial roles are porlrayed in this painting: @ the accused witch (center and half-clad) j3 the afflicted and/or the accusers (fainting and pointing finger) rs the judges or examiners (seated at left in black robes).e the general population (may be witnesses, may be delenders of the accused) el' the malrons who physically examine the accused witch (elderly, next to accused). lt is critical to nole here that the atflicted - the people experiencing the fits - were not the ones accused ol being witches. Students often believe the young girls of Salem (lhe afflicted/accusers) were the witches because they experienced Iits. ln Iact, il was the afflicted girls ol Salem who claimed that witches were attacking them. Their fits and accusations started the Salem trials. (See Background Essay.) 14. lt was uncommon for these types ol examinations to occur in public. Most accused witches were examined in a startlingly thorough manner while in prison, often by as many as 8 or 9 matrons at once.. The magistrates or judges in these trials were male and olten ranking citizens and ministers. ln the case of Salem, these men were not from lhe village but came from other towns at the request of colonial Governor Phips. Teaching Tips:. Ask students to identify the emotions that exist in this painting. (fear, anger, distrust). Does this painting support the notion that all or some of the atllicted girls at Salem were lying/acting? Would it be possible to maintain this type of deception over several months, the duration of the Salem trials? At this point ask students about their own ability to lie. Does it get easier to lie and then keep lying? Can a person believe his/her own lies? ls it easier lo get away with a lie in an atmosphere ol lear?. Have several students choose a character in the painting and as a group re-enact the scene in the painting (fully clothed, ol course!). O 20@ Ih DBCI Prci6ct
Salem DBQ 7 of13 Document C R とNotes Source: Cotton Mather, Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcraft and Possessions, Boston, 1689. evil spirits are all around. There is confined unto the atmosphere of our air a vast power or army of evil spirits under the government of a Prince (Satan) who employs them in a continual opposition to the designs of God... Go tell mankind, that there are devils and witches.... New England has had examples of their existence... and that not only the wigwams of Indians...but the houses of Christians, where our God has had his constant worship, have undergone the annoyance of evil spirits. These Note: Cotton Mather was one of Colonial New England's leading ministers and intellectuals. His words were read and taken very seriously by much of the Puritan population. Document D Source: "Examination of a Witch," painting by T.H. Matteson, 1853. Reprinted by permission of the Peabody Essex Museum. 15 2008 ThO DBQ Prol醐 This page may be reproduced for classroom use
Salem DBO Document E: The Accused and the Accusers Content Notes:. A key idea in these powerful charts is that, overall, young, unmarried girls accused older, married women of witchcraft.. Demos was unhappy with the purely psychological explanation of the Salem trials put forth by many historians before 1970. His use of quantitative data was an attempt to make history more scientific. Many of the new social historians of the l96os attempted to quantify findings. However, Demos did not rely solely on numbers. And, in fact, he does see a deep psychological component to lhe Salem crisis. His numerical analysis was an attempt to recognize patterns in the town in order to understand the inner workings of the people of the time. This is always a difficult task for the historian.. Some historians argue that young girls in puritan New England lived a much more restricted lile than boys. They were likely to be more housebound and in close proximity with women of a generation older. The boys were more oflen out of the home, in fields or apprenticed. These close quarters, com_ bined with a rigid, restricted lirestyle, may have caused girls to feel a conscious or unconscious resenlment of older women.. Students might notice a discrepancy in the total number of the accused when they compare lhe marital status and age charts. They mighl also notice a difference in the accuser's chart. The rea_ son there is a discrepancy is that data for age is not available lor every participant, and many docu_ ments were lost in a ljre during the jgth century. Teaching Tips:. Ask students if the numbers in the chart are persuasive. Why do numbers like this carry so much power with historians? What can't you tell lrom these numbers? (One loses the indlvidual stories; they still do not explain why girls were accusing older women.). Ask students whlch they feel is more important - the difference in age between the accusers and the accused, or the difference ln marilal status? Why?. Discuss why more women than men may have been involved as both accusers and suspected witches. Some historians suggest that in a male dominated society, one way to exert power is to accuse others of witchcraft. (ln a sense the afflicted girls were the most powerful people in lhe colonies tor a few months.). Ask students if the exceptlons in the data are important. (Men are both accusers and accused. There are also older afflicted women and younger girls charged with witchcratt. Should this matter to historians?) O 2008 ft6 DBCI P.ojGEt
Salem DBQ 8 of13 Document m Notes E Source: ohn Demos, Underlying Themes in the Witchcraft of 17th Century New England." スmeri n Hisrorica Rey θи4 une,1970. T he ハ (Sllll,1692) Marita:statls Male 8 Female 1 29 61 Tota: 761 15 2ブ,4θ 6 18 6 15 Male Female 7ora 24 110 134 イア 6θ 7ora Oye r.60 11 7 41 14 ０ ８ ３ ８ t/17der 20 断 め wed １ ０ 一 ２ Marrlied 118 Total The AIIIlsers(sale甲,1692) Malital stat malё Total 11 1t'15 Under 01.. 1 0 1 5 16-20 Over 21 1 0 ３ ４ 一 lよょ に ９ ４ ３ ２ 一 lfё 市 "grel l ８ ８一 ２ １ Male Ⅲれdl -0 Total 17 0 2008 The DBO Prolect This page may be reproduced for classroom use
Salem DBO Document F: Examination of Bridget Bishop Document G: Charles Upham: A Historian,s Opinion Content Notes:. Documents F and G are a pair. Together they suggest that the young girls may have been acting. Upham's interpretation, writen in 1867, relies heavily on the reading of documents such as the Examination of Bridget Bishop. He emphasizes that the girls' Iits appear to be orchestrated.. Upham's interpretation still seems to be the popular belief. However, some recent historians argue that the girls could not possibly have lied their way through the entire nine months of the trials. Teaching Tips:. Ask the students to look closely at the examination record ol Bridget Bishop. Does it appear lrom this account that the girls may have been putting on an act?. Ask students to compare Upham's interpretation with those of other historians - the documents supplied by Demos (Document E), and Boyer and Nissenbaum (Document l). How is Upham different from these two?. Read over Document K berore having students make a linal judgment on the validity of Upham,s theory. @ 2006 Ihs oao Prot ct
Document F source: The examination of Bridget Bishop at salem village, 19April, 1692, recorded by samuel Parris. As soon as she came near, all (the afflfuteil girls) fell into fits... (Examiner) (Bridget Bishop) (Examiner) (Bishop) (Speaking to afflicted girls) Hath this woman hurt you? I never saw these persons before... They say you bewitched your first husband to death. If it please your worship, I know nothing of it. She shook her head' and the afflicted were tortured. (Examiner) Why you seem to act witchcraft before us by the motion of your body, which seems to have influence upon the afflicted? (Bishop) I know nothing of it. I am innocent to a witch. I know not what a witch is. Then she firned up her eyes, and the eyes of the afrlicteil were fiimed up' Document G Source: Charles W. Upham, Sa/em Witchcraft, Boston, 1867' What are we to think of those persons who commenced and continued the accusations - the..afflicted children,, and their associates?... It was perhaps their original design to gratify a love of notoriety or of mischief by creating... excitement in their neighborhood.... They soon, however, became intoxicated by the terrible success of their imposture, and were swept along by the frenzy they had occasioned.. " Once or twice they were caught in their o*n.nale;--d nothing but the blindness of the bewildered community saved them from disgracefulexposureandwell.deservedpunishment.theyappearedasprosecutorsofevery pojr creature ihut *u, tried.... It is dreadful to reflect upon the enormity of their wickedness... there can be no doubt that they were great actors' This page may be reproduced lor classroom use
Salem DBQ Document H: A Hysterical Attack Content Notes:. lt is very lmportant to note that many ol the accusers wenl through weeks of apparent suffenng, olten in lits as shown in this document.. Much of the testimony surrounding the trial is full ol descriptlons of fits which many of the young girls appeared to experience. Teaching Tips:. Ask students il they think it is possible lot '11-i2 year-old girls to lake fits like the one seen in the drawing. Many of the f its lasted lor hours.. Ask students to look at Cotton Mather's quote (Document C) and imagine they were Puritan parents of a child experiencing fits. How would they explain their child's behavior? e 2008 rhe obo P.ojscr
Document H Source: James West Davidson and Mark Hamilton Ltllle, After the Fact, 1982. The diagnosis of hysteria goes a long way toward resolving the historical debate over the afflicted girls' motivation. Adolescents, especially in the presence of Tituba, might very well have succumbed to the suggestion of bewitchment. The fits they experienced were very likely genuine, born of anxiety over a magic that threatened to overpower them. The diagnosis also explains many of the adult fits experienced by those who were convinced that their neighbors were conjuring against them. This is not to say that there was no acting at all; indeed, hysterics are notably suggestible, and no doubt the girls shaped their performances, at least instinctively, to the expectations of the community. Note: This drawing of a 19th century hysterical convulsive attack is strikingly similar to the Salem girls'fits. Note the crossed legs - a symptom of many of the Salem girls. ):l c. LtRE t'v ' This page may be reproduced for classroom use
Document l: The Geography of Witchcraft Content Notes:. Key idea to be drawn from the map: there was a geographical split between the west and east sides ol Salem Village. Most accusers lived in the western part of Salem, and the witches and their defenders lived in the east. (See Document J for one theory about the origins of the village Ieud.). This map is primarily the work ol a.lgth century historian, Charles Upham, who resided in Salem and studied the Witchcraft trials much ol his adult life. He used court and town records to record the locations ol all Salem residents - often spending days pacing off distances behveen plots of land when the records were unclear.. One aspect of the village feud not mentioned in the documents was the division within the village over the support ol Samuel parris - the minister Nearly all of the accusers came lrom families who supported Parris, while nearly all ol the accused witches did not support Parris. ln fact, parris, nine-year-old daughter was one of the origlnal afflicted girls who made the lirst charges of wilchcraft. Teaching Tips:. Pair up students and give them a few minutes to interpret the map.. Encourage studenls to read Document J once they have a leel for the map information.. Ask students what a typical A on the map might look like. (young, single, female) What might the typical W on the map look like? (older, married, female). Students should compare this map to the Demos chart (Document E). Which document is more useful? Do they contradict each other or complement each other? Document J: Boyer: A Historian's Analysis Content Notes:. Why the split in the village came about is discussed in this Boyer quote. ln a nutshell, the east side of Salem Village was getting cozy and connected wilh a new breed of prosperous merchanls who lived southeast ol Salem village and on the Aflantic Ocean. Class divisions and jealousies emerged and the more traditional, poorer west side oithe village may have lashed out.. Thls quote was taken lrom a college-level text in part written by Paul Boyer. Boyer,s book, Sa/em Possessed The Social Origins of Witchcraft, written in 1974, is perhaps the preeminent book on the Salem Trials. Teaching Tips:. Students should connect Documents I and J lmmediately. ln fact, they are almost one document.. Ivlake sure sludents connect the putnam family name to trial testimony in Documents K, L, and M.. This is a secondary source. you may want to discuss the difference between a primary and secondary source. The distinction is not always so clear. Ask: ls the map that Upham created primary? (Yes, even though he had to use other sources to piece it logether.) AIso ask, what are the pros and cons of reading a secondary source like Document J and viewing a "primary" source like Document I? @ 200a Th DBQ Prolect
Document I Source: Reprinted by permission of Harvard University Press from Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Wiichcraft, by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenblum, Cambridge, M1sq,: Harvard Uni-versity Press, Copyiight (c) 1974by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Map of Salem Village 1692 Key: @)= Accused witch A = Accuser D = Defender Salem **"\ Document J Source: Boyer et. al., The Enduring Vision' 1992- A sharp distinction emerged between the port's (Salem Town) residents...and outlying farmers (Salem Village). Prior to 1661 the richest 10 percent of Salem residents owned 21 percent of the town's property, but by 1681 the richest tenth possessed 62 percent of all wealth. (Salem Village) was divided between supporters of the Porter and Putnam families' Well connected with the merchant elite, the Porters enjoyed political prestige in Salem Town and lived in the village's eastern section, whose residents farmed richer soils and benefited somewhat from Salem Town's prosperity. In contrast, most Putnams lived in Salem Village's less fertile western half, had little chance to share in Salem Town's commercial expansion, and had lost the political influence that they once held in town. This page may be reproduced for classroom use
Salem DBO Documents K and L: Trial Depositions - Ann Putnam, Jr. and Ann Putnam, Sr. Content Notes:. The book Ann Putnam, Jr., is relerring to is the devil's book.. Ann Putnam, Sr., refers to three individuals whom Rebecca Nurse allegedly killed. All three of these people were Salem residenls who died suddenly in the 10 years before the trials.. The Putnam family members were the primary accusers throughout the witch trials. Thomas Putnam, lather and husband to the two Anns, signed 10 of the 21 legal complaints against accused witches. Teaching Tips:. Students should read Documenls K, L, and M. Then they should discuss whether it is possible lor a young girl to be used by her parents to fight their battles?. Many of the afilicted girls were just past 10 years ol age. Ask sludents whether they leel children should be able to testify in cases that involve such severe punishments. Document M: Boyer and Nissenbaum Comment Content Notes:. Boyer and Nlssenbaum argue that many of the victims at Salem had prior personal disputes with their accusers. The Putnam land dispute was just one of many examples ot individual and family leuding brought alive by these historians. Teaching Tips:. Ask students whether this document provides a sufriclent motive for accusing anyone of witchcraft. What more inlormation might they look lor if they were the histoflans?. Have students discuss whether this document strengthens or weakens any of the other major arguments. Does it contradict the map or the Demos charls on age and gender? 24 O 200e Th DBCI Prci cr
Document K Source: Deposition of Ann Putnam, Jr., 11 years old, daughter of Thomas and Ann Putnam Sr., June 4, 1692....on the 13th March, 1692,I saw the apparition of Goody (Rebecca) Nurse, and she did immediately afflict me, but I did not know her name then, though I knew where she used to sit in our meetinghouse. But since that, she hath grievously afflicted by biting, pinching, and pricking rre, (and) urging me to write in her book. Document L source: Deposition of Ann Putnam, sr., the wife of Thomas Putnam, June, 1692....on the first day of June, 1692,the apparition of Rebekkah Nurse did fall upon me and almost choke me, and told me that now she was come out of prison she had power to afflict me, and that now she would afflict me all this day long and would kill me if she could, for she told me she killed Benjamin Holton and John Fuller and Rebekah Shepard... Note: The Putnams were one of the most powedul families in Salem village. Rebecca Nurse, although born to a wealthy family, had lost everything by 1692 and lived on the f ringes of town. Document M source: Reprinted by permission of Harvard University Press from sa/em Possessed: The sociat origins of witchcraft, by Paul Boyer and stephen Nissenbaum, Cambridge, Mass.: Haruard University Press'. ^ Copyright(c)lgT4bythePresidentandFellowsofHarvardCollege. To be sure, there were a number of reasons, on the conscious and.,rational" level, why Ann Putnam (Sr.) may have resented and even feared Rebecca Nurse. Rebecca was from Topsfield, whose town authorities had for years been harassing the Putnam family by claiming that parts of their lands actually lay in Topsfield rather than in Salem Village. And her husband Francis had been involved during the 1670s in a protracted dispute with Nathaniel Putnam (Ann's father-in-law) over some mutually bounded acreage' This page may be reproduced for classroom use
Salem DBO Document N: Ergotism Content Notes:. When this article first appeared in Sc/brce in 1976 it created somewhat of a stir. Making an hallucinogen the culprit behind the Salem witch trials seemed credible to an America caught up in its own drug experimentations. Subsequent articles in Science and elsewhere pretty much demolished the ergotism theory Teaching Tips:. You may want to tell students that this theory has been seriously challenged and is now generally rejected. Ask students if they find anything in the Caporael article that seems particularly suspect. 26 o 2008 rhs oao Pro,eci
Document N Source: Linda Caporael, "Ergotism: the Satan Loosed in Salem?" Science, Ap(il2' 1976. Reprinted by permission of author. Ergot (a parasitic fungus) grows on a large variety of cereal grains - especially rye... (Ergot) has 10 percent of the activity of LSD, (and) is also found in morning glory seeds, the ritual hallucinogenic drug used by the Aztecs.... Warm. damp, rainy springs and summers favor ergot infestation... (O)ne field may be heavily ergotized while the adjacent field is not. The fungus may (damage) a crop one year and not reappe,u again for many years... Ergotism, or long-term ergot poisoning, was once a common condition resulting from eating contaminated rye bread. In some epidemics it appears that females were more liable to the disease than males. Children and pregnant women are most likely to be affected by the condition... Ergotism is characterized by a number of symptoms' These include crawling sensations in the skin, tingling in the fingers, vertigo,...hallucinations,...mania, melancholia, psychosis, and delirium. All of these symptoms are alluded to in the Salem witchcraft records. Rye...was a well established New England Crop... Seed time for the rye was April and the harvesting took place in August.... The timing of Salem events fits this cycle. Threshing probably occurred shortly before Thanksgiving, the only holiday the Puritans obserwed. The children's symptoms appeared in December 1691. Late the next fall, 1692, the witchcraft crisis ended abruptly.... Certain climatic conditions, that is, warm, rainy springs and summer, promote heavier than usual fungus infestation. The pattern of weather in 1691 and 1692 is apparent from brief comments in Samuel Sewall's diary. Early rains and warm weather in the spring progressed to a hot and stormy summer in 1691. There was a drought the next Year, 1692, thus no contamination of the grain that year would be expected.... (A) large measure of the Putnam farm, which was located in the westem sector of Salem Village, consisted of swampy meadows' '. (and) may have been an area of contamination... Three of the (afflicted) girls...lived in the Putnam residence... Two afflicted girls, the daughter and niece of Samuel Parris, (a minister), lived in...the center of the village... Two thirds of Parris' salary was paid in provisions... Since Putnam was one of the largest landholders and an avid supporter of Parris...an ample store of ergotized grain would be anticipated in Parris' larder. This page may be reproduced lor classroom use
Salem DBQ Lesson PIan - Shorter Version (SV) Have students complete the Hook Exercise on supernalural belief. see Hook Exercise sheet and directions. Have students read the Background Essay. Be sure they are oriented in time (see Time Line) and place (see lvlap)- Ask students to explain the meanings of predestination and fundamentalism. How seriously would a fundamentalist take a commandment found in the Bible? Before looking at the documents, ask sludents what they expect lhe documents to contain? Then examine the nine documents lor an organizatonal framework (possible explanations lor why people were accused of witchcraft and hanged). For homework, ask students to organize the documents into an outline where each of the several headings is a difterent cause category. (See Teacher Document List on page go.) Explain that discovering the organizational f ramework ol a body ol material is a hule srep toward understandlng that material. lt has to do with seeing the big picture and is kly to' remembering what is read. Students might consult the document list in their packet. Outlines are due at the beginning of the next class. Discuss outlines. working from students' homework, create an oufline that approaches the categorized Teacher Document List on page 30. Using an overhead projector, examine one or more documents together as a class. Model the level of detail you expect ror each analysis. Then, individually, in pairs, or in groups ol three, have students begin to work through the documents, writing their commenls eith", in the margin or on Document Analysis Sheets. (See Teachers' Toolkit.). Students complete document analysis. when students have linished their analytical notes, conduct a fui class discussion. Have transparencies of selected documents available for reference. Ask for volunteers to describe a document or cluster of documents and assess its merits as a cause of the hysteria. concrude by asking students to take out a sheet ol paper and rank the top three causes ol the hysteria. Ask students to defend their ranking. lf the lesson is to curminate in an ess y, unress the skil rever of your crass is high, one day for a writing workshop is suggested. students can write their introductory paragraphs in crass complete with tifle, "grabber,' thesis, and "road map" for how their paper will b=e devetoped. See Step Five, The Analytical Essay, in The Teaihers' Toolk? for deiailed suggestions. Write essay. tt olfv 1w9a3ys avaitabte. Oay One,: Read the Background Essay atoud in class. Then, working individually or in pairs, have students begin t; fill in the Document Analysis sheets. Students complete worksheets for homework. Oiy Two: ln a lull class discussion, organize the documents into cause categories, then discuss the relative merits of each cause. An essay written at home co-urd ro ow. rt one day avairabre: Summarize the essay. Put students in small groups. With Document 4 prolectei on a screen lor atmosphere, dii_ tribute Documents 1, 2, 5, and g. Tell students thefhave 20 minutes to draft a i Oo_word theory as to what may have caused the witch trial hysteria in salem. share theories at end.
A Document Based Question (DBO) This page may be reproduced for classroom use
TEACHER DOCUMENT LIST (SV) There are nine documents in this exercise organized around several different factors that may have contributed to the hangings and the pressing in Salem. Below is the authors' picture of how the documents are organized. The document list provided for students in the Student Materials follows the same order but is not divided into cause categories. Context Documents: The Depth of Betief Document 1: Exodus 22:18 Document 2: Salem Death Toll Document 3: Cotton Mather: "These evil spirits are all around." Document 4: Painting: Examination of a Witch Factors of Gender, Maritat Status, and Age Document 5: Chart: The Accused and the Accusers Actors and Notoriety Seekers Document 6: Examination of Bridget Bishop Document 7: Charles Upham: A Historian,s Opinion Hysterics Document 8: Drawing and commentary: A Hysterical Attack Neighborhood Conflict Document 9: Map: The Geography of Witchcraft @ 2008 Tho DBQ Proiecl
Directions: In the warm summer months of 1692, twenty women and men were put to death in Salem, Massachusetts, for practicing witchcraft. Why this happened has been the subject of historical debate for many years. Witchcraft hangings on this scale had never happened before in America and have never happened since. This document based exercise asks you for your educated opinion as to why they occurred. There are several steps to forming this educated opinion. 1. Read the Background Essay. It gives an overview of the Salem story. 2. Quickly skim through the 9 documents to get a sense of what they are about. 3. Read the documents slowly. For each, use the margins or Document Analysis Sheet to record: a. What or who is the source? Is it primary or secondary? b. What is the main idea (or the main ideas) in the document? 4. Organize the documents into theories or reasons by adding brackets and short labels in the list below. Sometimes one document by itself presents a theory. Sometimes two or three together present a theory. 5. Prioritize your reasons. What is the most important reason? What is second? 6. Explain your priorities. Why is one reason more important than another? The Documents: Document 1: Exodus 22:18 Document 2: Salem Death To11 Document 3: Cotton Mather: "These evil spirits are all around." Document 4: Painting: Examination of a Witch Document 5: Chart: The Accused and the Accusers Document 6: Examination of Bridget Bishop Document 7: Charles Upham: A Historian's Opinion Document 8: Drawing and commentary: A Hysterical Attack Document 9: Map: The Geography of Witchcraft This page may be reproduced for classroom use
Background Essay On Septemb er 19, 1692, 8l-year-old Giles Cory lay beneath several boards piled high with rocks. A tough old man, Giles had refused to testify in the Salem witchcraft trials. As another stone was added, his last words are believed to have been, "More weight!" Something had gone terribly wrong. Why in the summer months of 1692 was Giles Cory pressed to death? And why were19 other people from Salem, Massachusetts, hanged? What Caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria ol 1692? In the 1600s, a large number of English immigrants arrived in New England. The leaders of these settlers were Puritans. Puritans were Protestant Christians who were unhappy with their church in England. They came to New England so they could practice Christianity in a pure way. The land of New England and Puritan beliefs fit together well. Both were tough. The New England climate was harsh with long cold winters. New England soil was rocky and not easy to farm. But the Puritans were determined. Hard times were simply God's test. Puritans believed in predestination, the idea that God elects or chooses before birth who will go to Heaven and who will not. Puritans lived with the possibility that they were damned to Hell. The Puritan ethic of hard work was partly an attempt to prove to themselves and others that they were among the chosen. To guide them through this difficult life, Puritans had help - the Bible. Puritans were fundamentalists. They believed that every word in the Christian Bible was the true word of God and was to be followed to the letter. What the Bible said, Puritans believed, and the Bible spoke of the Devil and of witches. The Devil was indeed clever with the ability to enter a normal person's body and turn that person into a witch. Once under the Devil's power, the witch could make all kinds of trouble. A witch might cause a neighbor's bread to burn or cow to run away. A witch might cause a young girl to cry out in church, or a faithful husband to commit adultery. In 17th century New England, witchcraft was a serious crime. Convicted witches could be put to death. The problem was how to prove a person was a witch. Courts accepted several kinds of evidence: 1. Admission of guilt. This made it easy. 2. Anunusual power or physical trait. A man who could hold a rifle, arm extended, with his finger in the barrel, was a suspect. A woman who confused the words when saying the Lord's PraYer might be a witch. 3. Anger followed by mischief. If a suspected witch shouted hateful words at someone and later that person broke a leg, this was evidence of witchcraft. 4. Spectral evidence. This was testimony by a victim that they were "visited" by some demon, perhaps while sleeping. Courts did not like spectral evidence because it was hard to Prove. In the S0-year period from 1620 to 1700, 16 colonists outside of Salem were put to death for witchcraft. But this was a small number com- This page may be reproduced for classroom use
Teacher Notes
Background Essay (Continued) Salem DBQ 4of10 pared to the number executed in Salem. In just a 1S-week period from June 10 through September 22, t692,19 men and women from the Salem area were hanged for witchcraft. Another, an 81-year-old man, was pressed to death by stones. The trouble in Salem began when two young girls, Betty Parris, age nine, and her 1l-year-old cousin Abigail Williams, asked a West Indian slave woman named Tituba to help them know their fortunes. They were interested in what their future sweethearts would be like. To find this out they used an old trick of suspending an egg-white in a glass of water. Then they looked for telltale shapes. Disturbingly, one of the girls thought she saw the shape of a coffin. Over the next several months the two girls began to show strange behavior. Betty's father, the Reverend Samuel Parris, was puzzled by the girls' "getting into Holes, creeping under Chairs and Stools,...uttering foolish and ridiculous speeches..." Reverend Parris learned about the sessions with Tituba. He decided that the girls were under the Devil's spell. Soon the strange behavior spread to other young girls in town. Under pressure from Reverend Parris and other adults, on February 29,1692, the girls identified two local white women and the slave Tituba as the witches who were causing them such pain. The Salem witch hunt was under way. The three accused women were carted off to jail in Boston. Only Tituba confessed to practicing witchcraft, an admission that saved her life. Over the next few weeks, the odd behavior of the girls continued. Then in late March the first adult fell victim to the witches' spell. Accusations increased and even included a fouryear-old girl who spent nine months in leg irons before being released. Throughout March, April, and half of May, the jails continued to fill. A special court was set up and the first trials were held June 2. On June 10, Bridget Bishop from Salem Village was hanged. On July 19, five more witches met the same fate. And so it continued until September 22, when a mass hanging of eight accused witches ended the executions. New England Today The tragedy at Salem was nearly over. The trials were called to a halt by Governor Phips. The fact that the governor's own wife was accused helped to stop the killing. The Puritan church leader Cotton Mather agreed things had gone too far. Mather said, "It were better that ten suspected witches should escape, than that one innocent person should be condemned." By May of 1693 the jails had been emptied. One hundred accused witches still in jail were either declared not guilty or Pardoned. The hangings had ended, but the big questions remain. Why were 19 people put to death for witchcraft in Salem and another pressed to death by stones? Why were more people hanged for witchcraft in Salem in one summer than were put to death in all of New England in nearly 100 years? Who or what was to blame? Examine the 9 documents that follow and formulate your answer to the question: IVhar caused the Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692? @ 2008 The DBQ Projoct This page may be reproduced for classroom use
Teacher Document Notes - Shorter Version (SV) Document 1: Exodus 22:18 Content Noies: As written in Exodus, the second book of the Old Testament, when Moses was leading the people of lsrael out ol slavery in Egypt, he met God on Mount Sinai. lt was on this occasion that God presenled [iloses with the Ten Commandments. Bul there were many other commandments as well, dealing with matters ranging from slavery and compensation lor lire damage, to injuring a pregnant woman. The in.junction to put witches to death was on this longer list. See chapters 21 and 22 in Exodus. Teaching Tips:. Given that many Puritans were f undamentalists, ask students how important was the commandmenl to "not suffer a witch to live." According to the Background Essay, the court in Salem lreed witches who admitted their gullt. Does this mean the Salem Puritans weren't hard line lundamentalists after all? Document 2: Salem Death Toll Content Notes:. Four cycles of hangings were the result of the court's sitting on a monthly basis.. Belore the trials were stopped hundreds of people from several different towns were accused ol witch_ craft. Many were in jail up to nine months before being freed.. Some interesting detail about a few of the victims: Giles Cory relused to plead guilty or not guilty. This irascible 81-year-old is believed to Oe tne only person to be pressed to death by court order in American history By laying a board over lhe accused and placing heavy slones on it one at a time, the magistrates hoped to force Cory to a plea. He relused and may have been killed accidentally. Before he died he testified against his third wife, Martha, who was hanged three days after his death. Teaching Tips:. ln Documents 1-4 no formal theory is presented about the causes ol lhe Salem trials. Rather, they will help students with context as they examine the historical arguments in the remaining documents.. Ask students to make generalizations about the victims and the data presented (mosfly female, killed in three large groups, etc.). What jumps out at the students? (Giles Cory,s pressing? date ol last victim who died in jail?) Bridget Bishop had a long-standing reputation for witchcratt. She was not a member of Salem church and ran a tavern on the road leading to Salem Village. Sarah Good, born into a wealthy family, had fallen on hard times and by 1692 was ieduced to begging. George Burroughs was a former preacher in Salem. Before departing Massachusetts lor Maine, he had several disagreements with the Thomas and Ann putnam tamily. He was retrieved lrom Maine by the court and brought to trial. Jb @ 20@ Th6 OBO Projeci
Salem DBQ 5 of10 Document 釉 1 Notes Source: Exodus 22:18, King James version of the Bible. ollfuu sfin[t rnt sffir o witcfi to [iue.' Document 2 Source: Adapted from Salem Court Records' ISALEvWITCttCRAFFI N91N,s169? 11よlol tildgこ itiζ h: P警驚l諄 ::;= 柵殿轟 37 @ 2oo8 rhs obo Proj&t This page may be reproduced for classroom use
Salem DBO Document 3: Cotton Mather, ',These evil spirits are all around." Content Notes:. This document underscores the puritan assumption that witches were real and were agents of the Devil. Without this basic reference point, students will have a diff icult time understanding the hysteria that swept over Salem.. The power of this document is its source. Coton Nlather's prestlge was enormous. Along with his father, lncrease, (who was president of Harvard in '1692), Cotton had been preaching throughout the 1680s about the threat posed by witches.. lt is important to stress the link between the puritan Church and the Colonial governmenl. Church and State in 17th century New England were not separate. The laws ol the colony were in line with Church beliefs, and the leadership of the colony was often in the hands of the most well-known ministers (i.e. church beliefs influenced the trials direcfly).. The date is crltical. Events in 1689, three years belore the Salem outbreak, suggests a beliel within the leadership of the colony that supernatural outbreaks were on the rise. Some historians believe Cotton and his father, lncrease, helped stir up emotions before and during the Salem trials.. Cotton Mather was so influential lhat his sermon on October 3, 1692, is credited with ending the trials. "lt is better that ten suspected witches...,, (See Background Essay.) Teaching Tips:. Encourage students to view Documents 1,2, and 3 as a group. Together they provide a context for the general feeling about witchcraft that permeated Puritan society. They do not, however, answer the big question - Why was there so much trouble in Salem but not in other areas ol New England?. Ask students to brainstorm religious ligures alive today who might have as much inf luence on their Iollowers. (The Pope, Billy Graham, Louis Farrakhan, etc.). Ask students to make some judgment about Cotton Matheas beliefs. was he superstitious? Are his beliefs about witches silly? Are there any beliefs that we have as a society that in 3OO years might look superstitious or barbaric? (Not numbering the 'l3th floor in some high-rises?). Before concluding that Cotton Mather is backward or unenlightened, students should note he and his father supported lhe new small pox inoculation, though most colonists regarded it with suspicion. Document 4: Painting: Examination of a Witch Content Notes:. The goal of this document is to help students feel and understand the drama of a witch trial.. Key witch trial roles are ponrayed in this painting: osthe accused witch (center and half-clad) osthe afflicted and/or the accusers (fainting and pointing linger),s'the judges or examiners (seated at left in black robes) lsthe general population (may be witnesses, may be defenders of the accused) lslhe matrons who physically examine the accused witch (elderly, next to accused). lt is critical to note here that the afflicted _ the people experiencing the fits - were not the ones accused of being witches. Students often believe the young girls of Salem (the afflicted/accusers) were the witches because they experienced fits. ln fact, it was the afflicted girls of Salem who ctaimed that witches were atacking them. Their fits and accusations started the Salem trials. (See Background Essay.) 38. lt was uncommon for these types of examinations to occur in public. Most accused wilches were examined in a starflingly thorough manner while in prison, often by as many as 8 or 9 malrons at once.. The magistrates or judges in these trials were male and otten ranking citizens and ministers. ln the case o, Salem, these men were not f rom the village but came from other towns at the request of colonial Governor Phips. Teaching Tips:. Ask students to identity the emotions that exist in this painting. (fear, anger, distrust). Does this painting support the notion that all or some of the afflicted giris at Salem were lying/acting? Would it be possible to maintain this type of deception over several months, the duration of the Salem trials? At this point ask students about their own ability to lie. Does it get easier to lie and then keep lying? Can a person believe his/her own lies? ls it easier to get away with a lie in an almosphere of lear?. Have several students choose a character in the painting and as a group re-enact the scene ln the painting (fully clothed, of course!). @ 2008 The O8O Proj6ci
Salem DBQ 6 of10 Document 3 く とNotes Source: Cotton Mather. Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcraft and Possesslons, Boston, 1689. evil spirits are all around... Go tell mankind, that there are devils and witches... New England has had examples of their existence...and that not only the wigwams of Indians...but the houses of Christians...have undergone the annoyance of evil spirits. These Note: Cotton Mather was one of colonial New England's leading ministers and intellectuals. His words were read and taken very seriously by much of the Puritan population throughout the colony. Document 4 Source: "Examination of a Witch" painting by T.H. Matteson, 1853. Reprinted by permission of the Peabody Essex Museum. 39 2008 The DBQ Prolect This page may be reproduced for classroom use