| The Devil's Disciples: Makers of the Salem Witchcraft Trials Contributor(s): Hoffer, Peter Charles (Author) |
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ISBN: 0801852013 ISBN-13: 9780801852015 Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press OUR PRICE: $30.40 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: April 1998 Annotation: For more than a year, between January 1692 and May 1693, the men and women of Salem Village lived in heightened fear of witches and their master, the Devil. Hundreds were accused of practicing witchcraft. Many suspects languished in jail for months. Nineteen men and women were hanged; one was pressed to death. Neighbors turned against neighbors, children informed on their parents, and ministers denounced members of their congregations. Approaching the subject as a legal and social historian, Peter Charles Hoffer offers a fresh look at the Salem outbreak based on recent studies of panic rumors, teen hysteria, child abuse, and intrafamily relations. He brings to life a set of conversations - in taverns and courtrooms, at home and work - which took place among suspected witches, accusers, witnesses, and spectators. The accusations, denials, and confessions of this legal story eventually resurrect the tangled internal tensions that lay at the bottom of the Salem witch hunts. Hoffer demonstrates that Salem, far from being an isolated community in the wilderness, stood on the leading edge of a sprawling and energetic Atlantic empire. His story begins in the slave markets of West Africa and Barbados and then shifts to Massachusetts, where the English, Africans, and Native Americans lived under increasing pressures from overpopulation, disease, and cultural conflict. In Salem itself, traditional piety and social values appeared endangered as consumerism and secular learning gained ground. Guerrilla warfare between Indians and English settlers - and rumors that the Devil had taken a particular interest in New England - panicked common people and authorities. The stage was set, Hoffer concludes, for the witchcraft hysteria. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | United States - Colonial Period (1600-1775) - Law | Criminal Law - General |
| Dewey: 345.744 |
| LCCN: 95031432 |
| Physical Information: 0.85" H x 5.98" W x 9.08" (1.00 lbs) 296 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 17th Century - Geographic Orientation - Massachusetts |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Mention the term witch hunt, and Salem, Massachusetts, springs to mind--and with it the power of superstition, the danger of mob mentality, and our natural fear of gross injustice. For more than a year, between January 1692 and May 1693, the men and women of Salem village lived in heightened fear of witches and their master, the Devil. Hundreds were accused of practicing witchcraft. Many suspects languished in jail for months. Nineteen men and women were hanged; one was pressed to death. Neighbors turned against neighbors, children informed on their parents, and ministers denounced members of their congregations. How could a settled community turn so viciously against itself? Why were certain persons accused and condemned while others were not? And why did the incidents of Salem occur where and when they did? Approaching the subject as a legal and social historian, Peter Charles Hoffer offers a fresh look at the Salem outbreak based on recent studies of panic rumors, teen hysteria, child abuse, and intrafamily relations. He brings to life a set of conversations--in taverns and courtrooms, at home and work--which took place among suspected witches, accusers, witnesses, and spectators. The accusations, denials, and confessions of this legal story eventually resurrect the tangled internal tensions that lay at the bottom of the Salem witch hunts. |
Contributor Bio(s): Hoffer, Peter Charles: - Peter Charles Hoffer is the Distinguished Research Professor of History at the University of Georgia. He is author of numerous books, including When Benjamin Franklin Met the Reverend Whitefield: Enlightenment, Revival, and the Power of the Printed Word; Law and People in Colonial America; and The Brave New World: A History of Early America, all published by Johns Hopkins. |