The Witches
As a direct descendant of a “witch” the Salem Witch Trials are a topic in American history that have forever changed my life. When I first learned about the supposed witchcraft I was immediately drawn in and I became continuously fascinated with the idea of witches in America. As I grew older I began to read books about the trials and fiction novels creating what happened in that town in 1692. I began making up stories in my head of what happened and borrowing large amounts of books from the library about Salem and it’s famous witches. One day while doing my research I stumbled upon two names: John Putnam and Rebecca Nurse. These are the names of a supposed witch and her accuser, both directly related to me in the family tree. My excitement grew as I read more details about the two of these people’s lives and I wanted to know them not just as characters of the Salem Witch Trials but as actual people, as my ancestors.
Rebecca Nurse was arrested for witchcraft on March 23, 1692 at the age of 71. Despite being known in her community for her soft heart and piety she was hung on July 19th of the same year. Her accuser John Putnam, angry over land disputes, watch as Rebecca joined the growing ranks of accused “witches”. I have always felt very connected with Rebecca Nurse, not only because we share a name but because I can understand the fear and hurt she must have felt as her own neighbors turned their backs on her and let her suffer. What kind of a time and people in history would do this? Were there truly witches or were we just scared colonists who didn’t understand what was happening and wanted someone to blame? Was accusing someone to be a witch the easiest way to end a fight? Did fear drive people to suspect that their neighbors were casting spells on them and possessing their bodies? It is amazing to look at the Salem witch trials and see what people turn to when they can’t comprehend or explain something. Not only did they act out of fear but it also goes to show us what people will do for attention.
“The historian John Demos writes that ‘every witchcraft case was, in part, a public drama. The enactment of elaborate roles, the presence of attentive spectators, the fundamental interest in seeing and being seen--all these elements point in a single direction.’ To a climax. The drama of a trial demands it, and of course the most satisfying climax in a trial is a conviction” (Brandt, An Unholy Mess).
It is just unfortunate that people’s fear and need for attention ended with the death of 19 innocent lives including my dear ancestor Rebecca Nurse. The Salem Witch Trials have changed how I view America. It has showed what truly lies beneath the human skin and the way people will act in a given situation. By learning about the trials and about the rest of US history we can do our best to learn from their mistakes and not repeat the past. It is literally history, done in the past, hoped to never happen in the future. We can learn from this mistake, that when something cannot be explained, especially if people are different, that we need to really look at the situation and determine was is really happening. We need to be more open to other people and have a wide scope of vision when it comes to ailments and diseases that might explain these. We need to keep open minds and not jump to drastic measure.
They may have been many years ago but the Salem Witch Trials still affect me today. They have taught me about the idea of magic and witchcraft, they have taught me about human nature, they taught me about fear, and about the American people. But most importantly they have help me to know who I am and were I stand. I would hope that if anything like this happened today I would stand up for the truth and for life.
Rebecca Nurse was arrested for witchcraft on March 23, 1692 at the age of 71. Despite being known in her community for her soft heart and piety she was hung on July 19th of the same year. Her accuser John Putnam, angry over land disputes, watch as Rebecca joined the growing ranks of accused “witches”. I have always felt very connected with Rebecca Nurse, not only because we share a name but because I can understand the fear and hurt she must have felt as her own neighbors turned their backs on her and let her suffer. What kind of a time and people in history would do this? Were there truly witches or were we just scared colonists who didn’t understand what was happening and wanted someone to blame? Was accusing someone to be a witch the easiest way to end a fight? Did fear drive people to suspect that their neighbors were casting spells on them and possessing their bodies? It is amazing to look at the Salem witch trials and see what people turn to when they can’t comprehend or explain something. Not only did they act out of fear but it also goes to show us what people will do for attention.
“The historian John Demos writes that ‘every witchcraft case was, in part, a public drama. The enactment of elaborate roles, the presence of attentive spectators, the fundamental interest in seeing and being seen--all these elements point in a single direction.’ To a climax. The drama of a trial demands it, and of course the most satisfying climax in a trial is a conviction” (Brandt, An Unholy Mess).
It is just unfortunate that people’s fear and need for attention ended with the death of 19 innocent lives including my dear ancestor Rebecca Nurse. The Salem Witch Trials have changed how I view America. It has showed what truly lies beneath the human skin and the way people will act in a given situation. By learning about the trials and about the rest of US history we can do our best to learn from their mistakes and not repeat the past. It is literally history, done in the past, hoped to never happen in the future. We can learn from this mistake, that when something cannot be explained, especially if people are different, that we need to really look at the situation and determine was is really happening. We need to be more open to other people and have a wide scope of vision when it comes to ailments and diseases that might explain these. We need to keep open minds and not jump to drastic measure.
They may have been many years ago but the Salem Witch Trials still affect me today. They have taught me about the idea of magic and witchcraft, they have taught me about human nature, they taught me about fear, and about the American people. But most importantly they have help me to know who I am and were I stand. I would hope that if anything like this happened today I would stand up for the truth and for life.
A Declaration of Inequality
Even to this day one of the biggest questions asked is what role should women play in society? The first time this question was posed was at the beginning of the 20th century. In earlier centuries woman had adhered to the Cult of Domesticity, which posed set rules and guidelines that separated males and females. College professor Erica Cummings described what this meant to society in her lesson entitled Cult of Domesticity: Definition & Significance. “The middle and upper class men and women who ascribed to this set of values believed that since men were busy working, women should focus on cultivating a home that is supportive, warm, and virtuous.”In her lesson she examined three main aspects of the Cult of Domesticity. They were the image of the ideal woman, the woman's proper place in society, and the writings that reinforced the idea. In the late 1800’s the ideal woman was known as the “true woman” and was expected to uphold four characteristics of a good and proper young woman. They were expected to cultivate piety, purity, domesticity, and submissiveness. Each of these core values held women in the light of being gentle and only worrying herself with reproduction and a happy home life for her husband. Because the idea that women were frail and should not exert themselves it was seen that women who spoke out or tried for the same rights as men was seen as undesirable and not proper. This caused women to refrain for quite some time from speaking up about their rights. In their society the life of a woman was contingent upon being married and her husbands rights and abilities. Women were not allowed to speak up for their equality and few of them ever did.
It wasn’t until July of 1848 that women formally declared their right to equality. At the Women’s Right Convention in Seneca Falls E. C. Stanton read aloud the Declaration of Sentiments designed after the Declaration of Independence. The document called for equality between women and men, finally ending the idea of the cult of domesticity. The Declaration of Sentiments called for a stop to woman’s suffrage and asked for a society that finally honored woman the way they deserved. The declaration started out the same way as the Declaration of Independence, it stated that that all “men and women” were created equal and had the right to the alienable rights promised to all white men. Following this statement the women wrote “the history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her.” This was exactly what the founding fathers had said about the King. In the D of I they listed the grievances they believed were held against them. In the D of S women listed similar offenses but this time not by the government or by the throne but by man himself. The Convention wrote their declaration this way to show to men how similar they were to each other and how if men could ask for equality so could women. If there is to be true equality men and women’s grievances and attributions should be considered. For there to be real equality men must give to women what they themselves had asked for.
Of course the rights women demanded weren’t exactly the same as the rights demanded from the King. In their declaration women asked for many things such as the right to be treated equal as men in society, the opportunity to go to college and continue their education, the ability to own land and be their own person despite their marital status, and most importantly their right to representation and the God given right to vote. Where the Declaration of Independence asked for the separation of two nations, the Declaration of Sentiments called for true equality.
When women first began to demand rights and after the announcement of the Declaration of Sentiments men still did not take them seriously. The cult of domesticity was so culturally ingrained in the antebellum American society that men didn’t believe women should have any say in political matters. These women who were speaking out about equality were not holding to the four characteristics of a good woman and were believed to be ill or out of line. For years women had to fight the binding ideas of the domesticity and today some of them still do. Although the idea for women’s equality was sparked in the 1800’s women wouldn’t see most of these rights until much later. Even today women are believed to play certain roles of housewife and mother while the male still dominates the work force. It is sad that the idea of what a woman should be is so drilled into our minds that true equality still hasn’t been reached. However I do believe as time goes on and especially in this day and age that women are breaking those traditional roles and the cult of domesticity is slowly fading to the past, hopefully never to emerge again.
The woman of the nineteenth and twentieth century were pioneers in the idea of true equality. They believed that is men deserved those rights so did they. God had created them equal to man, to live aside man, helping and changing the world. This idea that started in the antebellum American society soon covered the globe and change women’s lives forever. If the Declaration of Independence could change a nation so could the Declaration of Sentiments.
It wasn’t until July of 1848 that women formally declared their right to equality. At the Women’s Right Convention in Seneca Falls E. C. Stanton read aloud the Declaration of Sentiments designed after the Declaration of Independence. The document called for equality between women and men, finally ending the idea of the cult of domesticity. The Declaration of Sentiments called for a stop to woman’s suffrage and asked for a society that finally honored woman the way they deserved. The declaration started out the same way as the Declaration of Independence, it stated that that all “men and women” were created equal and had the right to the alienable rights promised to all white men. Following this statement the women wrote “the history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her.” This was exactly what the founding fathers had said about the King. In the D of I they listed the grievances they believed were held against them. In the D of S women listed similar offenses but this time not by the government or by the throne but by man himself. The Convention wrote their declaration this way to show to men how similar they were to each other and how if men could ask for equality so could women. If there is to be true equality men and women’s grievances and attributions should be considered. For there to be real equality men must give to women what they themselves had asked for.
Of course the rights women demanded weren’t exactly the same as the rights demanded from the King. In their declaration women asked for many things such as the right to be treated equal as men in society, the opportunity to go to college and continue their education, the ability to own land and be their own person despite their marital status, and most importantly their right to representation and the God given right to vote. Where the Declaration of Independence asked for the separation of two nations, the Declaration of Sentiments called for true equality.
When women first began to demand rights and after the announcement of the Declaration of Sentiments men still did not take them seriously. The cult of domesticity was so culturally ingrained in the antebellum American society that men didn’t believe women should have any say in political matters. These women who were speaking out about equality were not holding to the four characteristics of a good woman and were believed to be ill or out of line. For years women had to fight the binding ideas of the domesticity and today some of them still do. Although the idea for women’s equality was sparked in the 1800’s women wouldn’t see most of these rights until much later. Even today women are believed to play certain roles of housewife and mother while the male still dominates the work force. It is sad that the idea of what a woman should be is so drilled into our minds that true equality still hasn’t been reached. However I do believe as time goes on and especially in this day and age that women are breaking those traditional roles and the cult of domesticity is slowly fading to the past, hopefully never to emerge again.
The woman of the nineteenth and twentieth century were pioneers in the idea of true equality. They believed that is men deserved those rights so did they. God had created them equal to man, to live aside man, helping and changing the world. This idea that started in the antebellum American society soon covered the globe and change women’s lives forever. If the Declaration of Independence could change a nation so could the Declaration of Sentiments.