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17th Century Salem Massachusetts The Interweaving of the Economy and the Witch Trials of 1692 |
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The Economic Division of Salem Village
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The Accused
As the number of accusations increases, most of the people being accused of witchcraft tend to belong to the Anti-Parris group; the people who live on the eastern, wealthier side of Salem Village. The first accused people are the ‘outcasts’, including a beggar, a servant, and a wealthy old woman.[1] However, the number of accused witches increases by month[2] and “the overall direction of the accusations remains clear: up the social ladder, fitfully but perceptibly, to its very top.[3] “Many of the women (that are witches) had inherited property, from their fathers or husbands, and could therefore be seen as a threat to the patriarchy, which informed their communities”.[4] The alleged witches and their accusers live on opposite sides of the village, and the neighbors of both the accusers and the accused generally tend to side with whichever group their side represents. For the most part, citizens of the poor, traditional, Pro-Parris, western Villagers accuse citizens the wealthier, more modern, Anti-Parris eastern Villagers of witchcraft.
[1] Boyer, Salem Possessed, [2] Boyer, Salem Possessed, 31. [3] Boyer, Salem Possessed, 33. [4] Maxwell, in Europe, 95.
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Author: Steven Parker, University of Mary Washington E-mail: spark5rb@gmail.com | Last Updated: November 22, 2004 |
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