salemtown

As the years go on, Salem expands through mercantilism. The harbor serves as a prosperous port for trade between England and the colonies, as well as trade with the Caribbean Islands. In 1683, the General Court names Boston and Salem as Massachusetts colony’s two “ports of entry” through which all imports and exports pass, importing such goods as tobacco, sugar, cloth, and rum and exporting cod, mackerel, furs, horses, grain, beef, pork, masts, and naval stores.[1] The global trade passing through Salem gives the town a more urban appeal, which drives away many of the traditional farmers. The town of Salem splits into two parts: Salem Town and Salem Village, where Salem Town remains along the Massachusetts Bay in the east and Salem Village makes up the lands in the west. The contemporary merchants remain in Salem Town and the traditional farmers move to Salem Village, away from Massachusetts Bay.

The overall economy of Salem Town changes from one dominated by farming to one dominated by mercantilism. The wealth of the economy from farming in 1650 is around 40 percent, while thirty years later in 1680, the percentage of wealth from farming is about 9.[2] A gap begins to develop between Salem Town and Salem Village, both in relative wealth and in interactions with the rest of the world. Salem Town is modernizing faster than Salem Village is. The relative wealth of a person living in Salem Town in the period from 1661-81 is a third higher than people in the rest of the county.[3] The total wealth is also being distributed to the rich, with 10 percent of the population of Salem owning 62 percent of all the wealth.

While the wealth is increasing in Salem Town, the wealth is also decreasing in Salem Village due to land becoming scarcer. Diminishing land availability is due to a couple of factors. As the generations move on through a family, a father passes down his lands to his children, namely his sons. The father must divide his lands between his sons, which provides the sons with less land than their father had. When the sons get older, they will do the same as their fathers and divide the land they own amongst their children. With the increasing population of Salem, the amount of land that a family owns diminishes.[4] The land also becomes scarce because the boundaries of Salem Village are locked in by surrounding towns. The farms are unable to expand beyond the bounds of the Village.[5]

[1] Boyer, Salem Possessed, 86.

[2] Boyer, Salem Possessed, 88.

[3] Boyer, Salem Possessed, 87.

[4] Boyer, Salem Possessed, 90.

[5] Boyer, Salem Possessed, 91.