Source Evaluation: Source 1: 1) http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/ASA_REC.HTM 2) http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/ASA_TIT.HTM 3) http://www.history.com/topics/salem-witch-trials Purpose: The purpose of this article is to show written documentation in a dialogue between Tituba, and what I would assume to be the magistrate or a person of the church. “She was an Indian woman that was sold into slavery at an early age. Once in Salem, she became accused of being a witch and confessed in attempts to not be beaten anymore.” Argument: The argument is between Tituba and the examiner. “By confessing early on, Tituba avoided the ordeal of going to trial, joining with the afflicted girls in providing key evidence against accused witches."2 It was very clear in her examination that Tituba didn’t mean any harm to the girls, and they she did not understand why everything took place. Presuppositions: Many assumptions have been made about Tituba. Mainly, being that when people (specifically Americans) hear the term “slave,” the term becomes immediately recognized as an African American. However, Tituba was an Indian Woman, from an Arawak village in South America.2 Epistemology: I know what I know by reading this examination of Tituba. The text reveals specific things about how twisted people began to think because of how scared each individual was. This could easily be tied with my other secondary source that speaks specifically about Tituba’s confession… “Likely seeking to save herself from certain conviction by acting as an informer, she claimed there were other witches acting alongside her in service of the devil against the Puritans.” Relate: I find this source very credible because of its exact cop... ... middle of paper ... ...f everyone who was accusing witches were all children in the eyes of the legal law. Thomas Brattle states that the citizens of Salem village are being “blinded” by the children’s innocence, and claiming that the young chaotic girls are simply being “nonsensical.” 8 Conclusion: I think that the Salem trials can teach a lot of life lessons; by not automatically assuming something must be true if coming from an “innocent” child. If it were to be true, whether it be a woman or man, the devil can and will get who it wants. I believe there are possible possessions that still take place in today’s society that are out of a person’s control. However, contrary to the ideals of the Salem Trials; todays’ “devil” affects all races, genders, and ages. During their time, race, gender, and age played a massive role in the accusations of witches and executions of innocent people.
Tituba was convicted for practicing black magic; it was characteristically biased during that time. When Tituba was arrested in Salem, Massachusetts, she said to her jailer, “Devil, him be pleasure-man in Barbados, him be singing and dancing, It's you folks, you riles him up 'round here; He freeze his soul in Massachusetts, but in Barbados he just as sweet.” (IV.15). Tituba never saw that her singing, dancing, and spell casting as an evil practice.
As the story of Tituba unfolds, it reveals a strong and kind hearted young woman, very different from the Tituba we meet in The Crucible. I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem unveils for the reader, Tituba's life, loves, and losses. Her long and arduous journey through life is inspired by her many female counterparts, yet also hindered by her insatiable weakness for men, who also press upon her the realities of life.
In the Town of Salem Massachusetts, 1692, a group of adolescents are caught dancing in the forest. Among the adolescents in The Crucible, Abigail Williams and Mary Warren. The girls are horrified that they have been caught dancing, a sinful act, therefore they devise a story to evade punishment: they claim to have been bewitched. The first person who they accuse of witchcraft is a the black maid, Tituba. This results in her jail sentence as well as fearful suspicion throughout the town.
In Maryse Condé novel, I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem, Tituba is the victim of the spread of colonial ideology. Colonial ideology is established early in the novel and plays a role throughout. Colonial ideology is the reason Tituba is a slave to white men throughout the play. Colonial ideology is the reason why Tituba’s opinion is considered irrelevant by other characters in the play. Tituba’s life is filled with lost, misery, and disappointment because of the ideology shared by other characters in the novel. The spread of colonial ideology leads to Tituba’s low role in every society she lives in during her life.
During the time of the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692, more than twenty people died an innocent death. All of those innocent people were accused of one thing, witchcraft. During 1692, in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts many terrible events happened. A group of Puritans lived in Salem during this time. They had come from England, where they were prosecuted because of their religious beliefs. They chose to come live in America and choose their own way to live. They were very strict people, who did not like to act different from others. They were also very simple people who devoted most of their lives to God. Men hunted for food and were ministers. Women worked at home doing chores like sewing, cooking, cleaning, and making clothes. The Puritans were also very superstitious. They believed that the devil would cause people to do bad things on earth by using the people who worshiped him. Witches sent out their specters and harmed others. Puritans believed by putting heavy chains on a witch, that it would hold down their specter. Puritans also believed that by hanging a witch, all the people the witch cast a spell on would be healed. Hysteria took over the town and caused them to believe that their neighbors were practicing witchcraft. If there was a wind storm and a fence was knocked down, people believed that their neighbors used witchcraft to do it. Everyone from ordinary people to the governor’s wife was accused of witchcraft. Even a pregnant woman and the most perfect puritan woman were accused. No one in the small town was safe. As one can see, the chaotic Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were caused by superstition, the strict puritan lifestyle, religious beliefs, and hysteria.
Kent, Deborah. Witchcraft Trials: Fear, Betrayal, and Death in Salem. Library ed. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2009. Print.
The term witchcraft is defines as the practice of magic intended to influence nature. It is believed that only people associated with the devil can perform such acts. The Salem Witch Trials was much more than just America’s history, it’s also part of the history of women. The story of witchcraft is first and foremost the story of women. Especially in its western life, Karlsen (1989) noted that “witchcraft challenges us with ideas about women, with fears about women, with the place of women in society and with women themselves”. Witchcraft also confronts us too with violence against women. Even through some men were executed as witches during the witch hunts, the numbers were far less then women. Witches were generally thought to be women and most of those who were accused and executed for being witches were women. Why were women there so many women accused of witchcraft compared to men? Were woman accused of witchcraft because men thought it was a way to control these women? It all happened in 1692, in an era where women were expected to behave a certain way, and women were punished if they threatened what was considered the right way of life. The emphasis of this paper is the explanation of Salem proceedings in view of the role and the position of women in Colonial America.
Puritans believed in the devil and his role as strong as they believed in God and his role. For many centuries, Puritans had the idea that the weakest individuals in society often committed diabolical acts and sins. Furthermore, Satan selected the most vulnerable individuals to do his bidding, among these individuals, women were often held responsible for many sins, including witchcraft. (Godbeer 12). According to Richard Godbeer, in his book, The Salem Witch Hunt, “it was Eve who first gave away to Satan and seduced Adam.” (Godbeer 12). In 1692, witchcraft became a panic among Puritan society. Even though both men and women were accused of witchcraft, women were seventy-six percent more likely to be accused in Salem than men. (Godbeer 12). Puritan society was a male dominate society and men looked down upon women. There were two particular reasons to why women were often accused of being witches. The first reason, was in due to the Puritan belief that women were the source of evil. The second reason was because of certain events that associated with accusations. These events were being of relatively low social status and income, being rich or financially independent and being a midwife or nurse.
In 1692 everyone was sure that the Devil had come to Salem when young girls started screaming, barking like dogs and doing strange dances in the woods. The Salem Witch Trials originated in the home of Salem's reverend Samuel Parris, who had a slave from the Caribbean named Tibuta. Tibuta would tell stories about witchcraft back from her home. In early 1692 several of Salem's teenage girls began gathering in the kitchen with Tibuta. When winter turned to spring many Salem residents were stunned at the acts and behaviors of Tibuta's young followers. It was said that in the woods nearby they danced a black magic dance, and several of the girls would fall on the floor screaming uncontrollably. These behaviors soon began to spread across Salem. This soon led to ministers from nearby communities coming to Salem to lend their advice on the matter. Many believed that the girls were bewitched. It is believed that the young girls accusations began the Salem witch trials, and they would gather at reverend Parris's house to play fortune-telling games with magic and with Tibuta. One of the games was for them to crack a raw egg into a glass of water and see what shape it made in the glass.
After Tituba admitted to being a witch and said that she and four other witches “had flown through the air on their poles” (Linder), panic swept through Salem, and the pursuit of witches expanded (Linder) (Brattle) (Brooks).
In “The Crucible” Tituba asserted, “ Mister Reverend, I do believe someone else be witchin’ these children”(Pg.1109). Frighten Tituba make false accusation to protect her from being whipped. In act one Titube describes, “ Well, they were always talking; they was always runnin’ round and carryin’ on”(Pg.1110). Tituba recalled seen the Salem witches causing fear and suspicion among everyone. All in all Tituba just pointed fingers to save herself from being whipped, creating a fear in the town. This point of view sounds convincing at first however Reverend Parris was the one most responsible for the confusion of witchcraft in Salem. If it were not for Reverend Parris making a big deal out of the girls dancing in the woods no one would have know of the witchcraft situation. Reverend Parris blew out of proportion the situation with his daughter Betty, and bringing in Reverend Hale was what expose fear and suspicion among the town folks. The confusion of witchcraft was not because Tituba made false accusation but because Reverend Parris turned mad and threaten to beat Tituba. Tituba made up things to protect herself from being beaten. To sum up Tituba was not the cause for the confusion of witchcraft situation, however Reverend Parris was to blame for the confusion of witchcraft situation in Salem that created fear and suspicion among the towns
The Salem Witch Trials occurred from 1692 to 1693. When two girls, aged 9 and 11, started having strange and peculiar fits, the Puritans believed that the cause of these actions was the work of the devil. The children accused three women of afflicting them: Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne. Tituba was a Caribbean slave owned by the Parris family. Sarah Good was a homeless woman. Sarah Osborne was a poor elderly woman. Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good pleaded innocent. Tituba admitted, “The Devil came to me and bid me serve him.” She described seeing red cats, yellow birds, black dogs, and a black man who asked her to sign his “book”. She confessed to signing the book. All three wo...
The Salem Witch Trials occurred because “three women were out in jail, because of witchcraft, and then paranoia spread throughout Salem” (Blumberg). In the Salem Village, “Betty Paris became sick, on February of 1692, and she contorted in pain and complained of fever” (Linder). The conspiracy of “witchcraft increased when play mates of Betty, Ann Putnam, Mercy, and Mary began to exhibit the same unusual behavior” (Linder). “The first to be accused were Tituba, a Barbados slave who was thought to have cursed the girls, Sarah Good, a beggar and social misfit, and Sarah Osborn, an old lady that hadn’t attended church in a year” (Linder). According to Linder, Tituba was the first to admit to being a witch, saying that she signed Satan’s book to work for him. The judges, Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne, “executed Giles Corey because he refused to stand trial and afterwards eight more people were executed and that ended the Witch Trials in Salem”
Analysis and Comparison of the Witch Trials In modern times, the most infamous witch trials are the one that occurred in Salem. These specific witch trials are known for the unjust killings of several accused women and men. The Salem witch trials of 1692, is a big portion of what people refer to, when they want to analyze how Puritan life was during the colonial period. According to ‘Salem Witch Trials’, “The witch trials are often taken as a lens to view the whole Puritan period in New England and to serve as an example of religious prejudice…”
In “We Aren’t Superstitious”, by Stephen Vincent Benet, the theme of accusation supports the superstitions for the Salem Witch Trials. Throughout the entire story, accusations are thrown left and right; Arguing on who is a witch and who isn’t. When Tituba arrived from the West Indies towards the beginning of the story, nobody could predict the mayhem she would unfold. The queer and interesting stories she told Elizabeth Parris later spread into the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Now, one doesn't know if this was part of her “evil voodoo-witch plan” or aimlessly come across, but it was catastrophic. The first individual to be accused of witchery was Sarah Good, who later was followed by Sarah Osborne. They were both accused of witchery because of their low social classes. Sarah Good was known as a whore and a beggar, while Sarah Osborne was married to a lower social class and was a horrible Christian. This accusation of the lower class portrays a lot of what happens today in the real world.