Witchcraft: The Scapegoat of Early American Society

It is human nature to become superstitious and fearful upon witnessing something they cannot explain or when they make a seemingly flawless observation that links one thing to another. It is often for the human mind to attempt the path of least resistance and instead leap to a conclusion rather than to pursue a more complicated answer. Such uneducated thinking took lead and from it arouse the prospect of witchcraft. The simple idea that if your neighbor were acting peculiarly or children, particularly female children, were misbehaving in some way that they must be a witch allowed an easy scapegoat for the minds of continental Americans and became a widespread accusation. The acts of the “witches” often varied, though they were commonly blamed

for bringing diseases to those that angered them, but the punishment was often the same in the end. These witches would be brought to court and put on trial, and if found guilty, as they often were, they would be killed in various gruesome manners; they were crushed, hanged, drowned, burned, or more mercifully simply shot. Such angst is well exemplified in the witch trials of Salem Massachusetts; being a part of New England the people of Massachusetts were extremely religious puritans and approached the accusations of convening with the devil with grave seriousness.

It was not particularly difficult for the women of Salem to be accused of witchcraft. They might a bit of a recluse, perhaps they whisper to themselves when they're alone, or even just don’t obey as willingly as it was believed they should. Even going to a different church could be looked at as suspicious, and particularly in a time of such religious tension. Sometimes the accused was put through various “witch tests” to discover if she was a witch before her arrest. Such test were often unfair using marks that the women could have procured any which way, like tuberculosis scars and the such, as evidence, or silly tests that proved nothing as the result was either death, which could have been the goal all along, or being found guilty and subsequently killed. The justification of these “witch or death” was that, for instance a woman tied to a burning stake, would either save herself with witchcraft then be killed, or be saved by God if she were innocent. The reasons and tests matters little though as the outcome is usually the same; the women are arrested, jailed for a time, then brought to court and tried. The trial, held by a judge and jury that firmly believed in witchcraft and following evidence provided from witch tests, was rarely ever in the accused woman's favor. They could plead innocent, but received no lawyer and not be allowed to call a witness to the stands as well as having to convince the before mentioned witch hunting judge and jury of her innocence. Pleading guilty could gain them a chance at becoming the courts “pet witch” a position that would leave them their life but at the cost of confirming that others are witches and ending their lives. Pleading guilty also meant an end to any of the witch tests, which more resembled torture then actual testing. All these outcomes are also assuming the accused women both, survived the mob out for their witch head, and was not immediately found guilty by the church and court and refused a trial.

While women were the most predominant target of witch accusations men were accused as well, though while a majority of the female targets were accused of witchcraft for religious reasons men were more often accused for the purpose of stealing their possessions.

Men, such as Giles Corey, were accused of witchcraft by their greedy neighbors, neighbors who knew that if found guilty the men’s land would be put for sale by the court and that they could purchase it. Some few men, like Giles Corey, did not let this happen and refused to plead guilty nor innocent of the charges and thusly never being formally tried. Unfortunately, such a loophole was not exploited easily and the before mentioned mob, along with some law officials, would torture the accused until they confessed. In the case of Giles Corey, he was laid down and had heavy rocks placed upon him and continually asked “yay?” or “nay?” in regards to his involvement in witchcraft; knowing either answer would cost his family their land he simply responded “More weight” to each questioning. His eventual death, his last words being “More weight” defiant in the face of his accusers, left his land to his sons, whom were now safe from the greedy neighbors as further accusations would make oblivious the hidden intentions behind Corey’s accusations. Unlike Corey though, many men of New England and particularly Salem were accused and found guilty of witchcraft, costing them and their families their land and other possessions.

Several similar cases were kindled with greed in mind rather than actually having a religious premise, and since on occasion the court members themselves partook in accusing for the purpose of stealing it became especially difficult for these men to prove themselves innocent.