Cotton Mather: The Salem Witch Trials

Words: 1113

Pages: 5

Open Document

Cotton Mather

I Introduction

It's 1692 and many of your fellow townsmen are being brought for trial on the charge of witchcraft. Panic fills your town and you're not sure who to trust anymore. There's a knock at your door, the priest says you're under arrest on the charge of witchcraft!

The Salem witch trials, a period between 1692 and 1693 where more than 200 women were tried and twenty hung for being witches. The Salem witch trials are a fascinating subject that we wouldn't have known about had it not been so well documented by one man. That man was Cotton Mather.

II Biography

Cotton Mather lived a dramatic life. He was born on February 4, 1663 to Reverend Increase Mather. He attended Harvard college, and was invited unanimously for three years to become a colleague with his father, and he refused each offer every time (Mather). He supported the smallpox immunizations and wrote many books about the things …show more content…
He inoculated his own son despite the religious controversy and the chance he could die, and even though he almost died, as a result of the inoculation, his son survived (Tindol).

Also, Cotton Mather lived through the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem witch trials started when three young ladies began practicing voodoo. Once the girls were caught two of the girls pretended to go insane and blamed another older woman of bewitching them and causing the insanity. This sparked a dramatic turn of events of neighbor against neighbor as they all fought for their lives. By the time the witchcraft scare was over, more than twenty-one women had been tried and hanged (Mather). Cotton Mather created the best documentation of the Salem Witch Trials. He also created the best analysis of the girls who began the entire thing

Salem Witch Trials and Cotton Mather Essay examples

Assignment 8 Cause and Effect Writing Essay Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 was a volatile place where death by execution was a strong fear for many. One did not have to be a murderer, thief or rapist in order to be frightened, you could be just old, a governor’s wife, or have unfortunate neighbors. The majority of residents of Salem from February 1692 until October of the same year were either accused or accusers of witchcraft. During these eight months, 20 people were executed. It is difficult to…

Words 1182 - Pages 5

Salem Witch Trials Summary

The notorious Salem Witch Trials were a dark period in America’s history that began in 1692. It all began after a group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil and had accused several local women of witchcraft. The Trials were a classic portrayal of scapegoating. At the time, fear of the Devil, and witches who did his bidding, was very real in Salem. People feared that the Devil was constantly trying to find ways to break down and destroy Christians and…

Words 748 - Pages 3

Salem Witch Trials Dbq

The Salem Witch Trials were obviously the result of religion and ignorance of mankind. Although not directly stated, through evidence and documented occurrences we can easily see that religion and the Bible had an enormous impact on the people’s actions and way of thinking. The Salem Witch Trials coincided with the harsh beliefs of The Puritans, New England’s hardcore faithfulness to rulers, and people being very gullible. Cotton Mather was a minister and intellectual in New England, where his words…

Words 426 - Pages 2

History Of Witch Trials

speedy and public trial. 7 Right of trial by jury in civil cases. 8 Freedom from excessive bail, cruel and unusual punishments. 9 Other rights of the people. 10 Powers reserved to the states. 1431-Trial of Joan of arc took place. she was burned at the stake on allegations of with craft. *1629-King Charles 1st- Let puritans have a charter in America. 1629-Salem is settled. 1641-English law makes witch craft a capitol crime. 1648-The first witch trial in Charleston mass…

Words 366 - Pages 2

Salem witchcraft trials Essay

Salem witchcraft trials speech by Hailey link Sir Bedevere asked the peasant in Monty Python and the Holy Grail “What makes you think she is a witch?” to which the peasant replied “she turned me into a Newt”. “A Newt” says Sir Bedevere, to which the peasant says meekly, “I got better” and the crowd shouts “Burn her anyway!”(Monty Python). Witches and wizards have been the subject of films and books for many years. From Monty Python to the famous Harry Potter Series, the subject is one that people…

Words 788 - Pages 4

Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

Eivys Borges Professor McLeod ENC1101 12/9/15 Salem Witch Trials The Salem witch trials were a series of court trials that were aimed at prosecuting people who had been accused of witchcraft in Massachusetts. Taking place between January 1692 and May 1693, it was one of the first hysterical moments that America would go on to see. What happened during the Salem witch trials? On January 20, 1692, in Salem Village, the Reverend Samuel Parris' nine-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, and his eleven-year-old…

Words 697 - Pages 3

Dbq Salem Witch Trials

During the Spring of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, panic was spreading over the rising accusations of affiliation with the occult and witchcraft (Goss 1). Salem contained many persons of the Puritan belief, and therefore had a strong affirmation in God and the devil. Along with the belief of these ethereal beings, the townspeople also had a long-held belief in the occult and spirits, which began in as early as the fourteenth century (Goss 2). Puritan belief held dark magic accountable for the bad…

Words 1542 - Pages 7

Salem Witch Trials Research Paper

The Salem witch trials began in February 1692 and lasted until May 1693. In the town of Salem Village, Massachusetts, a group of young girls began acting out and claimed to be possessed by the devil. They placed blame for their behavior on several local women and accused them of witchcraft. This created widespread hysteria to breakout around the colonial area. Throughout the year that the trials took place, more than 150 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 were executed. Public opinion…

Words 292 - Pages 2

The Salem Witch Trials

The Salem Witch Trials The Salem Witch Trials cost many people their lives, planted a seed of paranoia around the world, and affected many people. The Salem Witch Trials began in Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. The trials lasted only a little less than a year. Trials started when two young girls claimed to be afflicted by very violent convulsions, or strange fits that unabled them to hear, see, or speak. These witch trials led to twenty executions and nearly two hundred…

Words 984 - Pages 4

Essay about Cotton Mather

Joshua H. Read & Response Essay: Cotton Mather's "The Wonders of the Invisible World" February 26, 2014 Cotton was the eldest son of Increase Mather, the pastor of the Second Church of Boston, and as such, it was assumed he would become one himself. He struggled with a harsh stammer and a nervous disorder all his life, though, that made speaking difficult. Just as his father had done, he attended Harvard College, being admitted at the age of twelve. Only three years later, he graduated…

Words 1054 - Pages 5