A Storm of Witchcraft by Emerson W. Baker is a comprehensive account and analysis of the Salem Witch Trials. This book is a solid history book that goes beyond a simple chronicle of events. It examines the causes and results of this important historical event. To this end, the author explores the relevant history, religious aspects, psychology, sociology, legal aspects, and other facets of this subject.
Baker devotes one comprehensive chapter to a summery of the actual persecutions. The balance of this work delves deeper into the accusers, the accused, the judges, as well as all of the above - mentioned topics.
If anyone is not familiar with the basic events, in 1692 Massachusetts, several teenaged and adolescent girls began to exhibit bizarre behavior that included seizure like episodes and complaints of strange pains. The girls, prompted and egged on by adults, began to accuse numerous members of the community of witchcraft. As people were arrested and tried, they were often forced or pressured into confessions that implicated others. As the circle of accusations widened, scores of people were implicated.
The usual suspects, eccentric and elderly women were caught in the web of accusations. But what made these events somewhat unusual is that respected people with strong ties to the community were also enmeshed. The accused included both men and women, prominent members of society and clergy.
Twenty people were executed, others died in prison as a result of brutal treatment, many others were convicted or accused but not executed, a few escaped and fled Massachusetts.
Baker tries to be a balanced historian. He is surprisingly non - judgmental. He does not bash Puritanism or the people responsible for the accusations or trials. In fact, he tries to paint a picture of why a citizen of Massachusetts might feel that they society were besieged by forces threatening their families, neighbors and communities. At the same time, he presents, in detail, the arguments of those who have been highly critical of the key players. On this issue I found that he goes a little too far. Though clearly not his intention, some of his explanations come off as apology for what in the end, was persecution and murder.
Baker explores multiple issues in some depth goes and goes off in numerous directions. Thus summarizing his many points is difficult. One of several issues that are of interest to me is the argument that the aftermath of the trials and executions led to a reckoning and was turning point in history. From the end of the trials onward, there was a general feeling in the colony that something had gone terribly wrong and that innocent people had been executed. As early as late 1692 books were published excoriating the trials and those responsible for them. Dissent rose up both inside and outside the Puritan movement. Samuel Sewall, one of the judges who sentenced the convicted to hang, came to repent of his role in the matter. He publicly apologized and lived his remaining life in a state of guilt attempting to atone for his role in the trials.
The reaction to these events permanently ended the hysteria surrounding Witchcraft in America. Baker writes,
"No American court would ever again execute a witch after 1692, and witchcraft prosecutions came to an abrupt halt in New England.”
In the months and years following the trials, the government of Massachusetts came under increasingly under criticism. Collectively the concerns raised about the trials changed people’s views of their leadership and helped bring an end to the Puritan theocracy.
Furthermore the Massachusetts government, led by Governor William Phips, attempted an unsuccessful cover up of events. The ensuring backlash turned out to be an important step in the establishment of basic liberties. Baker ties some of this agitation to trends that would eventually cumulate in the American Revolution. He writes,
“Phips may have ended the witch trials, but in the process he helped to start America down the long road to revolution and independence.”
Though he ended the trials, Phips also was instrumental in starting them. He was eventually pressured out of office for his role in them.
When Thomas Maule, a Massachusetts Quaker, wrote a book attacking the trials on moral, religious and legal grounds, the local government attempted to prosecute him on the same courtroom that the witch trials were held in.
He was eventually found not guilty. Baker writes,
“The case was a landmark victory for freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion. The fact that a jury consisting largely of Puritans would do this in Salem, against the clear wishes of the judges, also shows that the tide of popular opinion had turned against the verdicts in the witch trials.”
Baker explores many other fascinating aspects of these events. For instance, years of bad weather in the region had led to major crop failures that caused great economic stress. The author argues that similar witch - hunts throughout the world often accompanied by similar economic duress.
Massachusetts was also a society at war. A brutal conflict was raging between the colonists and the French and their Native American allies. War veterans and war refugees played important roles in this history. Baker argues that fear and societal stress generated by the struggle also played a part.
There are many books on this topic. Some are general such as this work, others look more closely at particular aspects of events. I originally had planned to read Stacy Schiff’s The Witches. However, many sources, both formal and informal who read that book, indicated that there were better accounts of these events, including this book. This is a big and interesting topic. Thus I might soon read one or two more books on these events.
This work is a wide-ranging analysis and account of this dark time in American history. Baker is an excellent and unbiased historian. His is also a good writer and his analysis of events and motivations is reasoned and insightful. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in this subject.
