Cotton Mather's The Wonders Of The Invisible World

The Salem Witch Trials In Cotton Mather’s The Wonders of the Invisible World, we get an insight into how the world worked and thought at the time of the Salem Witch Trials. Mather states, “The New-Englanders are a People of God settled in those, which were once the Devil's Territories,” here we see everyone in the New World thought they were surrounded and always being attacked by the Devil. During the Salem Witch Trials 19 men and women and two dogs were convicted and hung for witchcraft.

Salem in 1692, was a strict Puritan town; one would be looked down upon if they did not attend every church service and pray daily. Anything against the church was a deadly sin. The church at the time was lead by Reverend Samuel Parris, he is believed

Reverend Parris’ slave John Indian called out Bridget after his own wife Tituba repented for being a witch. Most historians believe that Tituba was the only real witch, the other women were accused mostly over the children parents’ revenge. Arthur Miller has a line in his play on the trials that says, “We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!” many feel that this is exactly what happened in Salem. Giles Corey was told by a good source that Thomas Putnam was getting his daughter Ann to cry witchery against his neighbors to get their land. Giles would soon be crushed by large stones because he would not give up who told him. Some people would be freed from prison like Elizabeth Proctor, others however like her husband John would be hung for not confessing to witchery. Overall the Salem Witch Trials should never even happened, innocent people died in the hands of vengeful parents and crazy children. Many people believe that the Salem Witch Trials lasted several years but in reality it only lasted a few months. Barrett Wendell states in an essay on Cotton Mather’s journal, “It was the great tragedy of witchcraft”. We have come a long way from the trials, and I hope that we never let something this tragic ever happen