America has a history that has been dark and disturbing at times. People have been oppressed and persecuted for their beliefs, their religion, their color, and their sex. It is sometimes hard for young people to understand or appreciate the significance and importance of remembering our past. One such dark time occurred during the sixteen hundreds in Massachusetts. Cotton Mather was a leading Puritan religious leader who was responsible for many positive scientific advances, but is primarily remembered as a leading proponent of the dangers of witchcraft.
Mather did many fine things during his lifetime and was a prodigious writer. One of his works, "Memorable Providences", recounts a defining moment in his religious life. He was apparently called upon by a mason to evaluate the disturbing behavior of that person's children. They were experiencing terrible aches and pains and fell into fits of wailing and crying in unison. The minister concluded that the family's washerwoman had demonic powers and was torturing the children.
Today we have advanced methods for determining mental illness that were not known in the late sixteen hundreds. Massachusetts Puritans considered impure thoughts and actions responsible for any behavior that did not coincide with their beliefs. They lost all tolerance for individual expression and were quick to judge.
In order to purge their villages of presumed witches, hundreds were rounded up and arrested. It was such an easy way to get rid of a pesky neighbor or a unpopular family member since almost anyone could be made to look suspicious. Without today's medical knowledge, the scourge of smallpox, that threatened the region at this time, was explained away as the work of these devil worshippers.
The situation got so heated that many believed the pets of the accused could be affected by demons, which resulted in a number of dogs, cats, and other animals being killed for their association with so called witches. Any skin blemishes could be construed as the devil's work. Something as common as freckles was considered evidence of evil doing.
The majority of people who were eventually hanged or stoned to death were women. Others died in prison or managed to escape. A few were pardoned for being falsely accused. An example of Mather's influence can be seen in the case of George Burroughs, an ex-minister, convicted of the crime. Right before hanging he publicly recited the Lord's Prayer. This would have been an impossibility for a true witch in the minds of the citizens. When they called for clemency for him, Mather convinced the authorities to go ahead with the execution.
None of the women who pleaded guilty to witchcraft were ever hanged and several later recanted their confessions. Mather eventually came to the conclusion that he might have been hasty in his accusations and sought to minimize his involvement in the affair.
If we don't want history to repeat itself, we have to understand and learn from it. Today we see many signs of religious and racial intolerance that have begun to mirror the times of the Salem witch trials. What was wrong about the thinking and behavior then is just as wrong today.
Mather did many fine things during his lifetime and was a prodigious writer. One of his works, "Memorable Providences", recounts a defining moment in his religious life. He was apparently called upon by a mason to evaluate the disturbing behavior of that person's children. They were experiencing terrible aches and pains and fell into fits of wailing and crying in unison. The minister concluded that the family's washerwoman had demonic powers and was torturing the children.
Today we have advanced methods for determining mental illness that were not known in the late sixteen hundreds. Massachusetts Puritans considered impure thoughts and actions responsible for any behavior that did not coincide with their beliefs. They lost all tolerance for individual expression and were quick to judge.
In order to purge their villages of presumed witches, hundreds were rounded up and arrested. It was such an easy way to get rid of a pesky neighbor or a unpopular family member since almost anyone could be made to look suspicious. Without today's medical knowledge, the scourge of smallpox, that threatened the region at this time, was explained away as the work of these devil worshippers.
The situation got so heated that many believed the pets of the accused could be affected by demons, which resulted in a number of dogs, cats, and other animals being killed for their association with so called witches. Any skin blemishes could be construed as the devil's work. Something as common as freckles was considered evidence of evil doing.
The majority of people who were eventually hanged or stoned to death were women. Others died in prison or managed to escape. A few were pardoned for being falsely accused. An example of Mather's influence can be seen in the case of George Burroughs, an ex-minister, convicted of the crime. Right before hanging he publicly recited the Lord's Prayer. This would have been an impossibility for a true witch in the minds of the citizens. When they called for clemency for him, Mather convinced the authorities to go ahead with the execution.
None of the women who pleaded guilty to witchcraft were ever hanged and several later recanted their confessions. Mather eventually came to the conclusion that he might have been hasty in his accusations and sought to minimize his involvement in the affair.
If we don't want history to repeat itself, we have to understand and learn from it. Today we see many signs of religious and racial intolerance that have begun to mirror the times of the Salem witch trials. What was wrong about the thinking and behavior then is just as wrong today.
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