Rather than oversee ordinary people living in Salem, Boyer and Nissenbaum take the instance of the witch trials of 1692 and jump into the entire history of the village. In Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum’s Salem Possessed: Origin of Witchcraft, observations of the social, political, and economic barriers of the Salem Village community serve as a starting point for all the accusations of witchcraft in 1692. For example, as stated in the book, Salem Village was believed to be separated into two divisions because of the social, political, and economic norms. The two divisions being the Putman and Porter families. The Putnam family identified itself with traditional agricultural activities and firmly believed and supported Samuel Parris in the drive for self-government for the Salem village, while the Porter family resided more with the interest of mercantile and political life of the Salem town. Not to mention, the main purpose behind Salem Possessed is to produce a historically accurate narrative that helps uncover the…show more content… For example, Boyer and Nissenbaum found a pattern between the accusers and accused. There were fourteen accused witches who lived within the bounds of Salem village. Twelve of which lived in the eastern section of the village. In addition, there were thirty-two adult villagers who testified against the accused witches. Only two of which resided in the eastern side of the village, the other thirty on the western side. In other words, the accused witches and those who accused them resided in opposite sides of the village, demonstrating the tension between the people and the areas they resided in. Furthermore, it can be said the witch trials were more about getting back at people than true witchery. Especially since the court did not use hardcore evidence to prove one of witchery. All the evidence they had was that of those tormented and yet it could’ve been all
