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Author Norton, Mary Beth.

Title In the devil's snare : the Salem witchcraft crisis of 1692 / by Mary Beth Norton.

Imprint New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2002.

Copies

Location Call No. OPAC Message Status
 Axe Kansas Collection J Schick  133.4309744 N825i 2002    ---  Lib Use Only
 Axe Special Collections Whitehead  133.4309744 N825i 2002 c.2  ---  Lib Use Only
Edition 1st ed.
Description 436 p. ; 25 cm.
text txt rdacontent
unmediated n rdamedia
volume nc rdacarrier
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents Introduction -- Under an evil hand -- Gospel women -- Pannick at the Eastward -- Dreadfull apparition of a minister -- Many offenders in custody -- Endeavors of the judges -- Burroughs their ringleader -- All sorts of objections -- New witch-land.
Summary In January 1692 in Salem Village, Massachusetts, two young girls began to suffer from inexplicable fits. Seventeen months later, after legal action had been taken against 144 people, 20 of them put to death, the ignominious Salem witchcraft trials finally came to an end. Mary Beth Norton gives us a unique account of the events at Salem, helping us to understand them as they were understood by those who lived through the frenzy. Describing the situation from a seventeenth-century perspective, Norton examines the crucial turning points, the accusers, the confessors, the judges, and the accused, among whom were thirty-eight men. She shows how the situation spiraled out of control following a cascade of accusations beginning in mid-April. She explores the role of gossip and delves into the question of why women and girls under the age of twenty-five, who were the most active accusers and who would normally be ignored by male magistrates, were suddenly given absolute credence. Norton moves beyond the immediate vicinity of Salem to demonstrate how the Indian wars on the Maine frontier in the last quarter of that century stunned the collective mindset of northeastern New England and convinced virtually everyone that they were in the devil's snare. And she makes clear that ultimate responsibility for allowing the crisis to reach the heights it did must fall on the colony's governor, council, and judges.
Subject Witchcraft -- Massachusetts.
Massachusetts -- History -- Colonial period, approximately 1600-1775.
Trials (Witchcraft) -- Massachusetts -- Salem.
Salem (Mass.) -- History -- Colonial period, approximately 1600-1775.
Women -- Massachusetts -- Essex County Region -- History.
Essex County Region (Mass.) -- History.
Trials (Witchcraft) -- Massachusetts -- Salem.
Salem (Mass.) -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775.
ISBN 037540709X
9780375407093
0965460975
9780965460972

 
    
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