Witches
American history has few subjects as interesting as witchcraft, because
it confronts us with many Ideas about women. It confronts us with fears about
women, the place of women in society, and with women themselves. Also, it
confronts us with violence against women and how the problems of society were
often blamed on women. Even though some men were executed as during periods of
witch hunting, witches were generally thought of as women and most who died in
the name of witchcraft were women. In the United States, witchcraft took place
among too educated of people to dismiss it as mere "superstition." (P.10)
The first person that was executed, as a witch, in America was ...
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(P.20) Hale included neither of these charges in
his list of the evidence presented against Jones, but suggested that the crimes
had to do with her medical practice. She was accused of having a "malignant
touch," Hale noted, and her medicines were said to have "extraordinary violent
effects." When people refused to take her medical advice, he added, "their
diseases and hurts continued, with relapse against the ordinary course, and
beyond the apprehension of all physicians and surgeons."(P.21) Hale also
mentioned that Jones was believed to possess psychic powers: "some things which
she foretold came to pass accordingly; other things she could tell of ... she
had no ordinary means to come to the knowledge of."(P.20) John Hale pointed out
that several of Jones's neighbors tried to get her to confess and repent. One
of them, he said, "prayed her to consider if God did not bring this punishment
upon her for some other crime, and asked, if she had not been guilty of stealing
many ...
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society and the Puritan Faith.
Additionally, when both of these views were very intense, the accusations would
multiply and would effect the lives of not just one or two, but many.
Many of the societies problems were often blamed on witchcraft. The
witches in New England were said to be able to harm others in supernatural ways,
so major illnesses were often blamed on them. Also, people believed witches had
powers over animals and crops. They were often accused for bad harvests and
livestock dying. They were also commonly blamed for miscarriages, non-conception,
and birth-defects. Another problem that was explained with witch craft was the
problems of lunacy. Lunatics were believed ...
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Witches. (2008, October 29). Retrieved April 27, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Witches/92190
"Witches." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 29 Oct. 2008. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Witches/92190>
"Witches." Essayworld.com. October 29, 2008. Accessed April 27, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Witches/92190.
"Witches." Essayworld.com. October 29, 2008. Accessed April 27, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Witches/92190.
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