In this episode, we take on the history of one of the most infamous witch hunts in popular memory; it is also the largest witch panic in American history. The research, analysis, and discussion of the Salem Witch Trials continues to attract widespread attention and fascination (with thanks to Arthur Miller). In this first episode of a two-part discussion of the Salem Witch Trials, we focus on the contextual background to the panic that began in 1692. Years of warfare, including King Philip's War and King William's War, plus the loss of Massachusetts' colonial charter hit the Puritan community of Salem hard. Then, in 1689, Salem Village gain their new minister, Samuel Parris, who brought with him an enslaved woman named Tituba, whose eventual confession to witchcraft sent the entire region into a destructive spiral.
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Sources:
SWP No. 013: Bridget Bishop Executed, June 10, 1692.
Arthur Miller, The Crucible, 1953.
Edmund Randolph, “King Philip’s War,” 1675; available through the Digital History archive.
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Carol Berkin, et al, Making America, Volume 1 To 1877, Cengage Learning, 2012.
Jess Blumberg, “A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials,” Smithsonian Magazine (October 24, 2022).
Elaine G. Breslaw, Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies (NYU Press, 1995).
Elaine G. Breslaw, “Tituba's Confession: The Multicultural Dimensions of the 1692 Salem Witch-Hunt,” Ethnohistory 44:3 (Summer 1997).
Douglas O. Linder, “Bridget Bishop,” Famous Trials (1995).
Rachel McShane, Ph.D., “TAMUC History Professor Busts Myths About The Salem Witch Trials,” East Texas A&M Today (October 24, 2023).
Mike Messina, “America’s Most Devastating Conflict: King Philip’s War,” Your Public Media (August 12, 2014).
Marilynne K. Roach, Six Women of Salem: The Untold Story of the Accused and Their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials (Da Capo Press, 2013).
Written and recorded by: Kenyon Payne
Theme music: \"Southern Gothic\" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Outro music: “D´vil,” anrocomposer
Opening clip from The Crucible (1996), produced by David V. Picker Productions and distributed by 20th Century Fox.
Additional featured music
“Dark Lullaby,” ShadowsAndEchoes
“Devotional Disorder,” Vincent-Santamaria
“Dark Piano,” BrunoMagic
“Dark Story,” Joel Fazhari
“Soul of Classic,” Monument_Music
By Kevin MacLeod(incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/:
“Clash Defiant”
“Mourning Song”
“Lightless Dawn”