A Storm Of Witchcraft The Salem Witch Trials Summary

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In the book, “A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience” Emerson W. Baker evaluates the Salem witch trials from our current time period, rationalizing and evaluating similarities in the mentality of the people of Salem to the present day, as well as evaluating the roles of influential positions during the trials. Baker argues, an existing relationship between the occurrences in Salem and everything that has following to present day (9). This work contrasts other studies on the Salem witch trials as it examines societal aspects in through continuous history. Rather than simply examining the society and culture of Salem, Baker explores the connection Salem has had on American history all the way up to our modern society.
The author uses notable authors such as John Demos, Mary Beth Norton, Carol Karlsen, Paul Boyer and Stephan Nissenbaum to evaluate the current literature on the topic. Furthermore, the author writes for the contemporary somewhat educated reader. His work references and relies on the work done by writers that are known within this topic. …show more content…

However Baker also draws upon new conclusions about this historical event. One aspect he focuses on is the judges and court of Salem. Other works on this topic tend to examine the accused, however, the judges played a key role in what occurred in Salem. These trials occurred before many institutionalized aspects of government were implemented, nonetheless, according to this work, “witchcraft judges represented the elite of Massachusetts – the political, military, and economic leaders of the colony (162). Therefore, these men wielded a significant amount of power and were interconnected through class and family contributed to the breadth and sustainability of the witch trials

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