1. Description of preliminary research
Initially my research was aimed at allowing me to attain a sense of the atmosphere that pervaded 1962 Salem, as I was unsure about what my focus points for my History Project would be. I was interested in the social, cultural and religious context of the time, and through class discussion and suggestions from my peers I read The Crucible by Arthur Miller. This play provided both the general arc of events and encapsulated the paranoia of the townsfolk, adding to my accumulating fascination of why the Salem Witch trials occurred.
To add to my general knowledge, I also read various websites on Salem, primarily Wikipedia and the online article Salem Witchcraft: The Events and Causes of the Salem Witch Trials by Tim Sutter. Along with the book WITCHCRAFT: A secret history by Michael Streeter and Jess Blumberg’s article for Smithsonian.com A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials, it was made evident that the most important historiographical issue was not context, but cause. From here I have made an attempt to collect as many different theories as possible, and there are surprisingly many. The evidence we have from the time before, during and after the trials is open completely to interpretation, as is the evidence that isn’t there (especially the use of spectral ‘evidence’ and the misdiagnosis of the strange afflictions of the young girls as the devils work.) In particular, Linda Caporeal’s 1976 hypothesis from Science ‘Ergotism: The Satan Loosed in Salem?’, which investigates the possibility of a physiological condition as the cause for the girls illness’; and the more recent 2008 article ‘Were the American colonists drugged during the Salem witchcraft trial?’ by Josh Clark, demonstrate the continual debate over cause amongst historians.
2. Describe the process you went through to arrive at your questions.
At first I wanted to look at the aforementioned topic-how did the religious, social and historical context of Salem lead to the trials? I was also interested in why the Salem trials are so well known. What was it about them that make them more memorable than previous witch trials in Europe and America? After we went through the readings and different historical schools for this course however, it became apparent that my question needed to focus more on historiography and how history has been perceived differently by different people, which is why I have decided on the following question:
Analyse different opinions on the cause/s of the Salem witch trials. How and why has it been interpreted differently?
In order to answer this question, I have made a list of subsidiary questions:
* Why is determining the cause/s of the Salem witch trials so difficult and controversial?
* What different approaches have been taken by historians and other individuals in order to try and explain why the trials happened?
* Are they valid approaches and claims? Why/Why not? What do I believe?
* How do different approaches to history reflect both the context of the Historian and the ideology they have? (I want to briefly look at Post-modern theorist Louis Althusser)
3. Research intentions in relation to areas/texts to examine
I aim to select three opposing theories on the cause of the Salem witch trials to dissect and analyse for my project. At this stage I am interested in looking further into Linda R. Caporeal’s theory on convulsive ergotism, and the oppressive religious beliefs and customs of the Puritan religion. Through further investigation I intend to select another theory from the extensive list.
There are also a number of books and websites that I intend to utilise sometime in the not so distant future- in particular this work The Salem Witch Trials : A Reference Guide by David K. Goss that Mr Wright found for me on e library, and Frances Hill’s books Delusion of Satan: Full Story of the Salem Witch Trials and The Salem Witch Trials Reader
4. Research intentions in relation to methodology
From what research I have already done, it is important to understand that history is never black and white, and I believe that with all the evidence and theories out there it would be ill-advised to assume that there is only one ‘right’ cause of the Salem witch trials. Instead, it is a complex historical issue that has been under debate for the last 300 years.
Sorry it's not done :( I had to take mum shopping because she can't push the trolley, and then we had family over for dinner. I'll hopefully have it done early tomorrow. Just let me know if what I have so far is right...
Good-night!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Websites and Books
Just browsing the web for websites- going to analyse them later ie. when I'm not in the school library.
by Goss, K. David
I think I've hit the jackpot on the convulsive ergotism front- I found an article by Linda R. Caporeal, along with various others that discuss the possibility of ergot poisoning leading to the unexplainable symptoms of the girls. From this article stem others that then debate the plausibility of these claims, as well as suggest new theories.
Here is Linda Caporeal's article from 1976:
http://web.utk.edu/~kstclair/221/ergotism.htmlAnd here is another article by Josh Clark for How Stuff Works.com, which debates the ergot poisoning theory.
I also want to look at the work of Charles Wentworth Upham, who was a Mayor of Salem in the 19th Century. I found this on google books- Salem Witchcraft: with an account of Salem Village, and a history of opinions on witchcraft and kindred subjects.
And here are some websites suggesting by the Great Mr Wright (who assumes I would have found these articles eventually. Thank-you for your faith in me)
Salem Witch Trials as Fact and Symbol-
And this website linked to the previous one- which is an interactive website. It's really cool!
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/salem/An article on Explaining Salem: Calvinist Psychology and the Diagnosis of Possession (I actually did see this one earlier today!)
And finally: An article (blog?) by this guy called Kevin Dunn. He discusses the psychology behind Salem and has heaps OF FOOTNOTES!!!! Thank-you!
http://www.kevindunn.org/salem.htmlPLUS I have found a number of books on www.bookdepository.com which I wouldn't mind purchasing. I blogged about two of them earlier, but I have found at least two others:
Delusion of Satan: Full story of the Salem Witchtrials- Frances Hill
The Salem Witch Trials- Marilynne K. Roach (apparently it took this woman 25 years to research and write this 750 pg+ work!)
There is also this reference guide that Mr Wright found for me on e library
The Salem Witch Trials : A Reference Guideby Goss, K. David
And....yeah. This is what I have spent two periods doing. Now I actually have to read them all.
Theories
Just a quick one here. I'm going to list some of the different theories I have come across, in no particular order and I will continue to add to this list as I come across more theories. I will then do a post on each one in detail, but I just want to get what I know out there now.
* Power struggle within the community
* Product of repressed Puritan mind (outward expression of inner sexual and spiritual turmoil)
* Ergot poisoning (which could explain the symptoms of the children)
* Fear of Smallpox
* Fear of Indian attack
* Contextual belief in the Devil using witches to destroy God's will
* Strain on recources- both from the influx of refugees from Nova scotia, New York etc and a series of harsh winters.
*The girls made the whole thing up, and when it spiraled out of control they had to continue with their stories
* Some of the accused actually were practicing witchcraft (I read in Witchcraft: A Secret History that 'At least one modern historian has suggested that some of the accused...were practicing witchcraft', but I am going to have to do some more extensive research to discover just who this 'modern historian' is.)
*common medical practice to blame insoluble conditions on the supernatural
* Power struggle within the community
* Product of repressed Puritan mind (outward expression of inner sexual and spiritual turmoil)
* Ergot poisoning (which could explain the symptoms of the children)
* Fear of Smallpox
* Fear of Indian attack
* Contextual belief in the Devil using witches to destroy God's will
* Strain on recources- both from the influx of refugees from Nova scotia, New York etc and a series of harsh winters.
*The girls made the whole thing up, and when it spiraled out of control they had to continue with their stories
* Some of the accused actually were practicing witchcraft (I read in Witchcraft: A Secret History that 'At least one modern historian has suggested that some of the accused...were practicing witchcraft', but I am going to have to do some more extensive research to discover just who this 'modern historian' is.)
*common medical practice to blame insoluble conditions on the supernatural
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Library Good Time Fun Time
So, this may come as a shock to some people, but I actually went out of my way to do school work. (see photograph- evidence!)On Saturday, after purchasing Puppy Milk from Big W, Audrey and I went to Penrith city library to do some actual research for out History Projects.
Unfortunately, the Library didn't have many books related to Salem, but there was one book I really wanted to look at, Encyclopedia of Witch hunts in Europe and America by William E. Burns. It's even a reference book, so it can't be borrowed and it wasn't there! Which means that by some horrific twist of fate some one else may have been reading it. Clearly a popular topic amongst library goers.
Anyway, after resigning myself to the fact that I wouldn't actually get to read a book at the LIBRARY, I went over the Proposal task description which was useful for a variety of reasons:
1. Because it always helps to know what your assessments are actually about.
2. It really forced me to think about everything I needed to research, what I really wanted to know, and what was going to be useful for me to do not only for the proposal but in the long run of the project as well. I think it gave me the wake-up call I needed to get off my arse and actually start doing some work. This project won't do itself.
I really focused on the enquiry questions, so here is what I have done.
Describe the process you went through to arrive at your questions.
I actually came up with the idea to look at the Salem Witch Trials last year when both the Modern and Ancient History classes had to a personal interest project. I was suggesting ideas for my friend who does Modern history, and I said 'You should do something with the Salem Witch Trials- like the religious and socio-cultural issues at the time, or something.' Naturally my friend declined, but the idea always stuck with me, and when I heard about the history project in the Extension History course I knew I had the basis for my work.
At first I wanted to look at the forementioned topic-how did the religious etc. context of the time lead to the trials? I was also interested in why the Salem trials are so well known- what was it about them that make them more memorable than previous witch trials in Europe?
After we went through the readings and different historical schools for this course, it became apparent that my question needed to focus more on historiography and how history has been perceived differently over time.
Question: Analyse differing historical opinions on the causation of the Salem witch trials. How and why has it been interpreted differently?
In order to answer this question, I have made a list of subsidiary questions.
* Why is determining the causation of the Salem witch trials so difficult?
* What different approaches have been taken by historians in order to try and explain why the trials happened?
* Are they valid approaches and claims? Why/Why not?
* What do I believe?
* How do different approaches to history reflect both the context of the Historian and the ideology they have? (I want to briefly look at Post-modern theorist and French Marxist philosopher, Louis Althusser)
Is that enough questions? Too many?
And is there much more I need to do for part 2, or is a more intelligent version of this enough?
Monday, February 21, 2011
Random Abigail Williams related things
I was just browsing wikipedia the other day, and discovered that there is an American Black Metal band named 'Abigail Williams'. Abigail Williams, along with her cousin Betty Parris, was the first person to accuse people in Salem of practicing witchcraft.
Band Member Thomas G. Plaguehammer (not his real name, perhaps?) said of the name:
The accuser is always relevant in society. In America there were the witch trials, the Red Scare, and now terrorism. Everyone is always quick to point a finger; we do it out of fear, prejudice, and because of things we don’t understand. So, the accuser will always be present in society. Abigail Williams really stuck out to us, not only due to the above mentioned, but also because it possessed that iconic quality, while still sounding very American. We want people to know where we are from, and that even though it may not be cool/trendy, we are proud of our American culture.
Nice. Over 300 years later and that 11 year old girl is still remembered for her role in Salem.
And on a similar note, the movie The Sorcerer's Apprentice (don't ask- fun family movie night at the Melton household) also features Abigail Williams- as a witch herself, who gets ressurected and killed again with-in the space of roughly 4 minutes (I didn't time it.)
Boo-ya. I felt significantly smarter for explaining who she was to my Dad.
Band Member Thomas G. Plaguehammer (not his real name, perhaps?) said of the name:
The accuser is always relevant in society. In America there were the witch trials, the Red Scare, and now terrorism. Everyone is always quick to point a finger; we do it out of fear, prejudice, and because of things we don’t understand. So, the accuser will always be present in society. Abigail Williams really stuck out to us, not only due to the above mentioned, but also because it possessed that iconic quality, while still sounding very American. We want people to know where we are from, and that even though it may not be cool/trendy, we are proud of our American culture.
Nice. Over 300 years later and that 11 year old girl is still remembered for her role in Salem.
And on a similar note, the movie The Sorcerer's Apprentice (don't ask- fun family movie night at the Melton household) also features Abigail Williams- as a witch herself, who gets ressurected and killed again with-in the space of roughly 4 minutes (I didn't time it.)
Boo-ya. I felt significantly smarter for explaining who she was to my Dad.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Historical Context
Thank-you Mr Wright for linking me to this cool Smithsonian article:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/brief-salem.html
It really set the foundations for establishing the historical context of Salem, and more importantly, of New England during the 1600's. Let us briefly outline that context :D
* New England was one of the first European settlements in North America. Many English pilgrims moved here in around 1620, many to escape the restrictions on religion in England. The first arrived late in 1920 on the Mayflower, to establish the Plymouth colony and practice religion freely. (Separatists-withdrawing from a larger religious group and/or believing they should interact primarily with co-religionists) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separatism
* After the Pilgrims, the Puritans sent over smaller groups in the mid 1620's to establish colonies. Like the original pilgrims, this was mainly because of religious reasons- there was huge religious conflict at the time between the Pilgrims, the Kings James I and Charles I of England, and the Church of England.
* Salem, Massachussets was settled in 1626 by Roger Conant. Conant was not a separatist, and Salem was originaly a commercial venture for agriculture and a winter haven for Banks fishermen.
* In 1689 English rulers William and Mary started a war with France in the American colonies. This displaced many people from New York, Nova Scotia, Quebec etc., whom took refuge in the County of Essex (Mainly Salem Town.)It is very possible that the strain on resources caused by the refugees is part of the cause of the Salem Witch Trials.
* From the 1300's-1600's witch hunts had been rippling throughout much of Europe. The executions at Salem would be the last for witchcraft in America.
* It was not unusual for anything unexplained to be blamed on the work of the Devil. At this time, the Devil was a very real entity that could destroy God's will through allies in human society.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England_Colonies
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puritan_migration_to_New_England_(1620%E2%80%931640)
http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Salem,_Massachusetts
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/brief-salem.html
It really set the foundations for establishing the historical context of Salem, and more importantly, of New England during the 1600's. Let us briefly outline that context :D
* New England was one of the first European settlements in North America. Many English pilgrims moved here in around 1620, many to escape the restrictions on religion in England. The first arrived late in 1920 on the Mayflower, to establish the Plymouth colony and practice religion freely. (Separatists-withdrawing from a larger religious group and/or believing they should interact primarily with co-religionists) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separatism
* After the Pilgrims, the Puritans sent over smaller groups in the mid 1620's to establish colonies. Like the original pilgrims, this was mainly because of religious reasons- there was huge religious conflict at the time between the Pilgrims, the Kings James I and Charles I of England, and the Church of England.
* Salem, Massachussets was settled in 1626 by Roger Conant. Conant was not a separatist, and Salem was originaly a commercial venture for agriculture and a winter haven for Banks fishermen.
* In 1689 English rulers William and Mary started a war with France in the American colonies. This displaced many people from New York, Nova Scotia, Quebec etc., whom took refuge in the County of Essex (Mainly Salem Town.)It is very possible that the strain on resources caused by the refugees is part of the cause of the Salem Witch Trials.
* From the 1300's-1600's witch hunts had been rippling throughout much of Europe. The executions at Salem would be the last for witchcraft in America.
* It was not unusual for anything unexplained to be blamed on the work of the Devil. At this time, the Devil was a very real entity that could destroy God's will through allies in human society.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England_Colonies
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puritan_migration_to_New_England_(1620%E2%80%931640)
http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Salem,_Massachusetts
Possible Question
Analyse differing historical opinions on the causation of the Salem Witch Trials, and how and why it has been interpreted differently.
My reasons for doing this type of question were outlined in my previous post. I think that by looking at different historians and their own contexts and historical 'schools' I can demonstrate my understanding of the course content- how and why have approaches to history changed over time.
The good thing about the Salem Witch Trials is that so much is open to interpretation- We really can't set down in concrete why it happened. There are, however, many varied and interesting interpretations of the evidence- some stranger than others, some more valid, but all open to investigation.
For my next few posts I want to establish the historical context of the time, and then outline the various theories on causation.
Wooo! two posts in under a week. Well done Alice! *pats back*
My reasons for doing this type of question were outlined in my previous post. I think that by looking at different historians and their own contexts and historical 'schools' I can demonstrate my understanding of the course content- how and why have approaches to history changed over time.
The good thing about the Salem Witch Trials is that so much is open to interpretation- We really can't set down in concrete why it happened. There are, however, many varied and interesting interpretations of the evidence- some stranger than others, some more valid, but all open to investigation.
For my next few posts I want to establish the historical context of the time, and then outline the various theories on causation.
Wooo! two posts in under a week. Well done Alice! *pats back*
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
The essay
So I have discussed (albeit briefly, because I was a naughty girl and didn't do my summer homework) with Mr Wright what I want to do with my Personal Interest Project.
I was thinking about looking at different historians views on the cause of the Salem Witch Trial. I think that causation will be the main theme for my PIP, and then I can look at the historical context of the 1700's New England, and also the different contexts of the historians who have commented on the cause. I will then analyse the historians approaches and make my own comments on why and why not I think their opinions are valid, bias etc.
So yeah..... just a whole lotta research has gotta ensue. A WHOLE lot more
I was thinking about looking at different historians views on the cause of the Salem Witch Trial. I think that causation will be the main theme for my PIP, and then I can look at the historical context of the 1700's New England, and also the different contexts of the historians who have commented on the cause. I will then analyse the historians approaches and make my own comments on why and why not I think their opinions are valid, bias etc.
So yeah..... just a whole lotta research has gotta ensue. A WHOLE lot more
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