A Storm of Witchcraft by Emerson W. Baker is a comprehensive account and
analysis of the Salem Witch Trials. This book is a solid history book that goes beyond a simple chronicle of events. It examines the causes and results of this important historical event. To this end, the author explores the relevant history, religious aspects, psychology, sociology, legal aspects, and other facets of this subject.
Baker devotes one comprehensive chapter to a summery
of the actual persecutions. The balance of this work delves deeper into the
accusers, the accused, the judges, as well as all of the above - mentioned
topics.
If anyone is not familiar with the basic events, in
1692 Massachusetts, several teenaged and adolescent girls began to exhibit
bizarre behavior that included seizure like episodes and complaints of strange
pains. The girls, prompted and egged on by adults, began to accuse numerous members
of the community of witchcraft. As people were arrested and tried, they were
often forced or pressured into confessions that implicated others. As the
circle of accusations widened, scores of people were implicated.
The usual suspects, eccentric and elderly women were
caught in the web of accusations. But what made these events somewhat unusual
is that respected people with strong ties to the community were also enmeshed.
The accused included both men and women, prominent members of society and
clergy.
Twenty people were executed, others died in prison as
a result of brutal treatment, many others were convicted or accused but not
executed, a few escaped and fled Massachusetts.
Baker tries to be a balanced historian. He is surprisingly non -
judgmental. He does not bash Puritanism or the people responsible for the
accusations or trials. In fact, he tries to paint a picture of why a citizen of
Massachusetts might feel that they society were besieged by forces threatening
their families, neighbors and communities.
At the same time, he presents, in detail, the arguments of those who
have been highly critical of the key players. On this issue I found that he goes a little too far. Though clearly not his intention, some of his explanations come off as apology for what in the end, was persecution and murder.
Baker explores multiple issues in some depth goes and
goes off in numerous directions. Thus summarizing his many points is difficult.
One of several issues that are of interest to me is the argument that the aftermath of the trials
and executions led to a reckoning and was turning point in history. From the end of the trials onward, there was a
general feeling in the colony that something had gone terribly wrong and that
innocent people had been executed. As early as late 1692 books were published
excoriating the trials and those responsible for them. Dissent rose up both
inside and outside the Puritan movement. Samuel Sewall, one of the judges who
sentenced the convicted to hang, came to repent of his role in the matter. He
publicly apologized and lived his remaining life in a state of guilt attempting
to atone for his role in the trials.
The reaction to these events permanently ended the
hysteria surrounding Witchcraft in America. Baker writes,
"No
American court would ever again execute a witch after 1692, and witchcraft
prosecutions came to an abrupt halt in New England.”
In the months and years following the trials, the
government of Massachusetts came under increasingly under criticism.
Collectively the concerns raised about the trials changed people’s views of
their leadership and helped bring an end to the Puritan theocracy.
Furthermore the Massachusetts government, led by
Governor William Phips, attempted an unsuccessful cover up of events. The
ensuring backlash turned out to be an important step in the establishment of
basic liberties. Baker ties some of this agitation to trends that would
eventually cumulate in the American Revolution. He writes,
“Phips may have ended the witch
trials, but in the process he helped to start America down the long road to
revolution and independence.”
Though he ended the trials, Phips also was
instrumental in starting them. He was eventually pressured out of office for
his role in them.
When Thomas Maule, a Massachusetts Quaker, wrote a
book attacking the trials on moral, religious and legal grounds, the local
government attempted to prosecute him on the same courtroom that the witch
trials were held in.
He was eventually found not guilty. Baker writes,
“The case was a landmark victory
for freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion. The fact
that a jury consisting largely of Puritans would do this in Salem, against the
clear wishes of the judges, also shows that the tide of popular opinion had
turned against the verdicts in the witch trials.”
Baker explores many other fascinating aspects of these
events. For instance, years of bad weather in the region had led to major crop
failures that caused great economic stress. The author argues that similar witch
- hunts throughout the world often accompanied by similar economic duress.
Massachusetts was also a society at war. A brutal
conflict was raging between the colonists and the French and their Native
American allies. War veterans and war
refugees played important roles in this history. Baker argues that fear and
societal stress generated by the struggle also played a part.
There are many books on this topic. Some are general such
as this work, others look more closely at particular aspects of events. I
originally had planned to read Stacy Schiff’s The Witches. However, many sources, both formal and informal who
read that book, indicated that there were better accounts of these events,
including this book. This is a big and
interesting topic. Thus I might soon read one or two more books on these
events.
This work is a wide-ranging analysis and account of
this dark time in American history. Baker is an excellent and unbiased
historian. His is also a good writer and his analysis of events and motivations
is reasoned and insightful. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested
in this subject.
