Boyer and Nissenbaum

Avery Klemp

Assignment for Week 3

Reading:  Boyer and Nissenbaum, Salem Possessed, chapters 1-4

After reading the first four chapters of Salem Possessed, please answer the following question in a response of approximately two paragraphs.   Please type your response.  You will turn this paper in to your TA at the beginning of your discussion section in week 3.

In what ways did pro and anti-Parris factions differ?  (Think about issues like wealth, geography, agriculture vs. town focus, the Ipswich road, etc.)

In Salem there were many underlying factors that contributed to the practice of witchcraft. One major concept to understand out of the book was the huge divide in Salem. There were two parts of Salem. Salem Village and Salem Town with the Ipswich Road running between the two. These two different parts of Salem varied immensely in terms of economy, class, and character. Salem Village was mostly made up of poor farmers who cultivated the land. Salem Town was a prosperous town with close ties to England for trade. Salem Town residents were wealthy merchants. Salem Town relied on Salem Village for food even though they collected taxes and set crop prices on the people of Salem Village. Until 1674 Salem Village did not have its own church and minister. Puritans believed in the Devil as a real God. The Puritans Satan would select the weakest people in the community like women to carry out his work. The first women to be accused of witchcraft were different socially then everyone else. For example, one women was homeless and another was a slave.