Salem Possessed by Paul S. Boyer
The Social Origins of Witchcraft
A detailed social history that explains the 1692 Massachusetts witchcraft crisis as the outcome of local rivalries, family feuds, economic change, and partisan politics rather than mere mass hysteria or solely supernatural belief. Drawing on court records, town papers, and testimony, it reconstructs how factionalism between village and town interests, disputes over property and inheritance, gender and generational tensions, and religious anxieties created the conditions for accusations to spread and for normal legal safeguards to break down. The analysis emphasizes the embedded social networks of accusers and accused and shows how long‑standing community conflicts were channeled into charges of witchcraft, producing a catastrophic eruption of fear, suspicion, and punitive violence.
- Published
- 1974
- Nationality
- American
- Length
- Unknown
- Pages
- Unknown
- Original Language
- English
- Avg User Rating
-
(3.0)
- Alternate Titles
- None
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