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A Delusion of Satan: The Full Story of the Salem Witch Trials
During the bleak winter of 1692 in the rigid Puritan community of Salem Village, Massachusetts, a group of young girls began experiencing violent fits, allegedly tormented by Satan and the witches who worshipped him. From the girls' initial denouncing of an Indian slave, the accusations soon multiplied. In less than two years, nineteen men and women were hanged, one was pressed to death, and over a hundred others were imprisoned and impoverished.This evenhanded and now-classic history illuminates the horrifying episode with visceral clarity, from the opportunistic Putnam clan, who fanned the crisis to satisfy personal vendettas and greed, to four-year-old "witch" Dorcas Good, who was chained to a dank prison wall in darkness till she went mad. By placing the distant period of the Salem witch trials in the larger context of more contemporary eruptions of mass hysteria and intolerance, the author has created a work as thought-provoking as it is emotionally powerful.
268 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 1995
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April 26, 2016
Undoubtedly, the Massachusetts of the 17th century would have been a terrifying place for a Puritan colonist. Beyond the gridded towns and the tended fields, a giant wilderness would have loomed, huge dark forests that hid ferocious bears, stalking panthers, larcenous squirrels, and possibly homicidal raccoons. The forests also would have hid Indians, the most terrifying creatures of all. Possessed of an almost mystical connection to the land, the Indians could appear, strike, and vanish at any moment. They killed settlers in their beds, dragged women and children into the woods, and were reputed to be cannibals. If these worries were not enough, Puritan leadership filled their followers heads with hogwash about demons and devils and evil spirits. It made for an environment in which clear thinking and logic paled before cries of “She’s a witch!”
In 1691, in Salem Village, religious repression and fear combined with baser ingredients of boredom and greed boiled over into the infamous Salem Witch Trials. The furor began with young girls – Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam – acting strangely after having their fortunes told. Their fits proceeded (naturally!) into the baking of a “witch cake,” the secret sauce of the cake being the girls’ urine. Pretty soon, more girls were having fits. Then they started accusing townspeople of bewitching them. When it finally ended in 1693, 19 people have been hanged and one person (Giles “More Weight” Cory) had been pressed to death.
In the annals of religion-fueled violence, the Salem Witch Trials were relatively small time. Compared to the Inquisition, it barely registers. Yet 322 years later, they are still at the forefront of our consciences. Partially that is due to its perceived historical irony – intolerance, zealotry, and bloodletting in the land of tolerance and religious freedom. Partially this is due to the event’s metaphorical malleability, and how different generations can retool the story to suit its own needs (see, e.g., Arthur Miller’s The Crucible).
I’ve read The Crucible (and seen the fine film adaptation starring Daniel Day Lewis) but until Frances Hill’s A Delusion of Satan I’d never picked up a book devoted solely to the subject. Frankly, finding a suitable title was a bit difficult. A lot of the titles seemed vaguely disreputable or were written or published by unknown authors/publishing houses. I really didn't know where to start.
As you might have guessed, I started here.
At just over 200 pages, A Delusion of Satan is a crisp, briskly-paced version of the Witch Trials that is unsparing in its portrait of a dour, repressive, superstitious community. The Puritans embraced the Calvinist doctrine of predestination, meaning that God saved people based on His whim, not necessarily according to what people did on earth. Of course, to Puritans, it seemed possible to tell – based on outward appearances – who would be saved and who would fry for eternity. Their theology, however, made it impossible to know with any certainty. This created, as Hill notes, the “characteristically New England Puritan mix of smugness and fear.”
Even though God had already made his decision, the Puritans were very particular about the rules. Rule Number 1: No fun. There were no other rules. Among the offenses punishable in Salem Village were having sex, sleeping during church, and “railing and scolding.” The consequences of such acts included pillory or stocks, public whippings, and execution. (If you read Cotton Mather, you will find him describing a man put to death for having sex with livestock).
According to Hill, this rigid, inflexible atmosphere led the young girls of Salem into rebellion. It started with a lark, dabbling in fortunetelling to ward off boredom. It took on a life of its own. Interestingly, Hill does not believe the children were faking their hysterical fits.
This subjugation to society was even more profound for women and girls, both denied “self-expression and power” to a far greater degree than men (at least the free white men).
Like much in this book, Hill’s belief is speculation. But it’s speculation that is warranted, explained, and based on logical inferences from the evidence. Indeed, Hill’s analyses and suppositions are among the best parts of the book. Despite occurring so long ago, there is a lot of primary documentation about the Witch Trials. Cotton and Increase Mather wrote books. The Puritans – being litigious-minded – kept trial records. These primary sources, however, are of a very particular type that does not give us great psychological insights. Hill provides that, and in doing so, makes the story much richer and humane.
A Delusion of Satan does not set out to be a complete, day-by-day look at the Witch Trials. Hill tends to follow certain narrative strands and personalities while eliding others. There are times when I had to refer to the chronology at the back of the book to see where things were on the timeline. I was fine with that. Trading absolute thoroughness and minutiae for evocative focus makes for a more entertaining book. And this is an entertaining, lively book. By the time you’ve finished – and seen the Puritan witch-hunters looking for “preternatural teats” on the bodies of women – you will have hearty dislike for a distinct group of people that passed from the stage three centuries ago.
If you’ve only consumed the Salem Witch Trials through Arthur Miller’s prism, you take from the Trials a lesson in the dangers of paranoia and groundless fear and mass panic. But hunting “real” witches in Salem and metaphorical witches (Communists) in the United States are two entirely different events. The actual historical event of the Witch Trials has a somewhat different lesson from the Red Scare.
(Of course, as Miller obviously realized, there is a lot of overlap, especially in the way the “hunters” managed to benefit from finding their “witches.” Both Joseph McCarthy and Samuel Parris gained power by tilting at these windmills).
The real story of Salem is how religion can be used to coerce, to control, and to advantage those at the top of the hierarchy. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the powerful men of Massachusetts were able to brush aside accusations of witchcraft against them. The accusers were treated with absolute respect, up until the time they started pointing fingers at the powerbrokers. At that point, they became silly girls. Those accused of being witches lost everything. Their lands and homes and livestock were seized and sold. Not coincidentally, those lands and homes and livestock went to those people who supported the witch hunts. The Mather brood – father Increase, son Cotton – did their best to facilitate the belief in witches, because in doing so, they forced people to be dependent on God. Dependence on God manifested itself in a dependence on the physical church – that is, a dependence and obeisance to the church leaders. Men like the Mathers.
A Delusion of Satan works so well because it understands what underlies the Witch Trials – greed, coercion, repression, false fear – and what finally ended them: logic, rationality, skepticism, and questioning of authority.
In 1691, in Salem Village, religious repression and fear combined with baser ingredients of boredom and greed boiled over into the infamous Salem Witch Trials. The furor began with young girls – Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam – acting strangely after having their fortunes told. Their fits proceeded (naturally!) into the baking of a “witch cake,” the secret sauce of the cake being the girls’ urine. Pretty soon, more girls were having fits. Then they started accusing townspeople of bewitching them. When it finally ended in 1693, 19 people have been hanged and one person (Giles “More Weight” Cory) had been pressed to death.
In the annals of religion-fueled violence, the Salem Witch Trials were relatively small time. Compared to the Inquisition, it barely registers. Yet 322 years later, they are still at the forefront of our consciences. Partially that is due to its perceived historical irony – intolerance, zealotry, and bloodletting in the land of tolerance and religious freedom. Partially this is due to the event’s metaphorical malleability, and how different generations can retool the story to suit its own needs (see, e.g., Arthur Miller’s The Crucible).
I’ve read The Crucible (and seen the fine film adaptation starring Daniel Day Lewis) but until Frances Hill’s A Delusion of Satan I’d never picked up a book devoted solely to the subject. Frankly, finding a suitable title was a bit difficult. A lot of the titles seemed vaguely disreputable or were written or published by unknown authors/publishing houses. I really didn't know where to start.
As you might have guessed, I started here.
At just over 200 pages, A Delusion of Satan is a crisp, briskly-paced version of the Witch Trials that is unsparing in its portrait of a dour, repressive, superstitious community. The Puritans embraced the Calvinist doctrine of predestination, meaning that God saved people based on His whim, not necessarily according to what people did on earth. Of course, to Puritans, it seemed possible to tell – based on outward appearances – who would be saved and who would fry for eternity. Their theology, however, made it impossible to know with any certainty. This created, as Hill notes, the “characteristically New England Puritan mix of smugness and fear.”
Even though God had already made his decision, the Puritans were very particular about the rules. Rule Number 1: No fun. There were no other rules. Among the offenses punishable in Salem Village were having sex, sleeping during church, and “railing and scolding.” The consequences of such acts included pillory or stocks, public whippings, and execution. (If you read Cotton Mather, you will find him describing a man put to death for having sex with livestock).
According to Hill, this rigid, inflexible atmosphere led the young girls of Salem into rebellion. It started with a lark, dabbling in fortunetelling to ward off boredom. It took on a life of its own. Interestingly, Hill does not believe the children were faking their hysterical fits.
[F]ew would doubt that repressed feelings may give rise to physical symptoms. When an individual’s emotions, desires, and will are subjugated almost completely to the demands of society, those symptoms can assume the severity of paralysis and fits.
This subjugation to society was even more profound for women and girls, both denied “self-expression and power” to a far greater degree than men (at least the free white men).
Like much in this book, Hill’s belief is speculation. But it’s speculation that is warranted, explained, and based on logical inferences from the evidence. Indeed, Hill’s analyses and suppositions are among the best parts of the book. Despite occurring so long ago, there is a lot of primary documentation about the Witch Trials. Cotton and Increase Mather wrote books. The Puritans – being litigious-minded – kept trial records. These primary sources, however, are of a very particular type that does not give us great psychological insights. Hill provides that, and in doing so, makes the story much richer and humane.
A Delusion of Satan does not set out to be a complete, day-by-day look at the Witch Trials. Hill tends to follow certain narrative strands and personalities while eliding others. There are times when I had to refer to the chronology at the back of the book to see where things were on the timeline. I was fine with that. Trading absolute thoroughness and minutiae for evocative focus makes for a more entertaining book. And this is an entertaining, lively book. By the time you’ve finished – and seen the Puritan witch-hunters looking for “preternatural teats” on the bodies of women – you will have hearty dislike for a distinct group of people that passed from the stage three centuries ago.
If you’ve only consumed the Salem Witch Trials through Arthur Miller’s prism, you take from the Trials a lesson in the dangers of paranoia and groundless fear and mass panic. But hunting “real” witches in Salem and metaphorical witches (Communists) in the United States are two entirely different events. The actual historical event of the Witch Trials has a somewhat different lesson from the Red Scare.
(Of course, as Miller obviously realized, there is a lot of overlap, especially in the way the “hunters” managed to benefit from finding their “witches.” Both Joseph McCarthy and Samuel Parris gained power by tilting at these windmills).
The real story of Salem is how religion can be used to coerce, to control, and to advantage those at the top of the hierarchy. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the powerful men of Massachusetts were able to brush aside accusations of witchcraft against them. The accusers were treated with absolute respect, up until the time they started pointing fingers at the powerbrokers. At that point, they became silly girls. Those accused of being witches lost everything. Their lands and homes and livestock were seized and sold. Not coincidentally, those lands and homes and livestock went to those people who supported the witch hunts. The Mather brood – father Increase, son Cotton – did their best to facilitate the belief in witches, because in doing so, they forced people to be dependent on God. Dependence on God manifested itself in a dependence on the physical church – that is, a dependence and obeisance to the church leaders. Men like the Mathers.
A Delusion of Satan works so well because it understands what underlies the Witch Trials – greed, coercion, repression, false fear – and what finally ended them: logic, rationality, skepticism, and questioning of authority.
March 14, 2021
This book is subtitled the 'full story' and I had hoped for more, but it is a relatively slim volume. On the plus side, it is a good summary, with a chronology at the back, of the main events which led to the out-of-control witch hunt that consumed Massachusetts in 1692. That witch hunt led to hundreds of people being imprisoned in appalling conditions - and made to pay for the privilege, given that the justice system was modelled on the one used in England - with nineteen hanged, and one pressed to death with weights when he would not enter a plea. The colony also suffered enormous upheaval, with goods seized, children left abandoned because their parents were in jail, land uncultivated, and families reduced to penury even when victims were later exonerated.
I have read previous books on the Salem trials, including Starkey's 'The Devil in Massachusetts', which the author condemns as fiction - it would have been helpful if she had said why she holds that opinion. Her own book, as does many others, puts forward the view that the witch craze began with bored adolescent and pre-adolescent girls in the house of Salem Village's minister, Samuel Parris, dabbling in fortune telling and then getting in over their heads, leading to accusations directed initially at women who occupied the lowest rungs of the community. As the situation took on its own momentum, more accusers, including older women and even one or two men, climbed aboard, and pious church members were apprehended as suspected witches. Eventually charges were directed at their menfolk too, and at prosperous merchants and their families. Those with a higher standing in society were able to bribe their way out of jail and in some cases fly to far off places such as New York to await the frenzy's climax and burnout, but the majority had to endure appalling conditions and treatment, some dying in jail before they could even come to trial.
The author makes a couple of useful points which I don't recall seeing before. First, that Parris' pair of married slaves were actually Native Americans, rather than black people - so many books do not make that distinction and give a starring role to Tituba, the female slave, as presiding over the fortune telling sessions and teaching the girls some kind of Caribbean voodoo. Second, the means of fortune telling was actually rooted in English practice: namely, keys and a sieve. I encountered this method in 'Religion and the Decline of Magic' by Keith Thomas, which I read recently. So as the author points out, far from teaching the girls magic, Tituba was a witness, perhaps unwilling, to the girls' own meddling in magic they already knew about. When they accused her and two other local women of bewitching them, she 'confessed' as the only means to stop the beatings by her small minded and money grasping master, and she stuck to her story when it became clear that those who confessed earned at least a stay of execution.
Another positive aspect of the book is the attempt to put into context the social and political situation of Salem Village, given the various difficulties, such as the suspending of the colony's charter, then being renegotiated in England, and the ongoing attacks by Native Americans who had caused heavy loss of life in more outlying parts of the New England colony. (Although I appreciate that the book was published in the 1990s, to read constantly of "Indians" in this context did become a little irritating after a while.) This did make clear that the community felt under threat from a number of directions, exacerbated by the internal problems which beset the Village - long standing rivalries between the Putnam family and their allies who were Parris' sponsors, and other families who had had land and inheritance disputes with the Putnams. The author shows how the witch hunt provided the perfect opportunity for a senior member of the Putnam family to settle old scores, through the means of his young daughter Ann who was a leading member of the accusers.
There is some attempt also to convey how stultifying and frustrating the very restricted lives of girls and women in particular were in a Puritan society where no self expression or even light hearted amusements were countenanced, as all such things were condemned as ungodly.
It is also made clear what a self-serving bunch of hypocrites most of the ministers in the colony were, especially Cotton Mather and Samuel Parris. One man only changed his mind about the witch hunt when his own wife was accused. Men like these kept the persecution going in the face of more clear and cool headed scepticism, and persisted in maintaining they had done nothing wrong when the hunt was finally wound up.
I do find a few issues with this book however. The author bends over backwards to exonerate the accusers, or at least most of them, despite showing that two were involved in fraud, jabbing themselves with pins, biting themselves or using pieces of torn sheet that the father of one had supposedly torn from the invisible clothing of a 'spectre' (most of the 'evidence' against the supposed witches were their shapes which tormented the accusers while being invisible to everyone else). Hill also doesn't make enough of the incident at the tavern where the girls called for a particular 'witch' to be hung, but didn't bother to put on their usual act of fits, convulsions and the like - when the tavern keeper's wife and another bystander called them liars, they said that they must have 'sport', in other words, diversions or amusements. So sending people to their deaths was basically a game to them, and this is hard to reconcile with the author's assertion that most of them were genuinely hysterical and believed they were bewitched. Especially since one who tried to recant was then accused by her ex-colleagues and intimidated into withdrawing her confession and rejoining their ranks.
Also, it is natural that a lot of the evidence is sketchy because court records were lost, and only copies made for other purposes survive. However the author attempts to fill in a lot of the gaps with speculation and a sort of pop psychology as to why people acted in a particular way. At a distance of four centuries this has many perils. People of that time genuinely believed in spirits, devils, and that human beings could change shape and fly through the air if they had become witches. So it is pretty difficult to enter into that mindset, to say the least. The author does tend to draw on modern psychology for explanations where there is no extant evidence, and to make parallels with recovered memories (there had been Satanic abuse scandals around the time this was published, where the memories were shown to be false ones implanted by therapists).
On the whole then, for me this is a 3-star rating.
I have read previous books on the Salem trials, including Starkey's 'The Devil in Massachusetts', which the author condemns as fiction - it would have been helpful if she had said why she holds that opinion. Her own book, as does many others, puts forward the view that the witch craze began with bored adolescent and pre-adolescent girls in the house of Salem Village's minister, Samuel Parris, dabbling in fortune telling and then getting in over their heads, leading to accusations directed initially at women who occupied the lowest rungs of the community. As the situation took on its own momentum, more accusers, including older women and even one or two men, climbed aboard, and pious church members were apprehended as suspected witches. Eventually charges were directed at their menfolk too, and at prosperous merchants and their families. Those with a higher standing in society were able to bribe their way out of jail and in some cases fly to far off places such as New York to await the frenzy's climax and burnout, but the majority had to endure appalling conditions and treatment, some dying in jail before they could even come to trial.
The author makes a couple of useful points which I don't recall seeing before. First, that Parris' pair of married slaves were actually Native Americans, rather than black people - so many books do not make that distinction and give a starring role to Tituba, the female slave, as presiding over the fortune telling sessions and teaching the girls some kind of Caribbean voodoo. Second, the means of fortune telling was actually rooted in English practice: namely, keys and a sieve. I encountered this method in 'Religion and the Decline of Magic' by Keith Thomas, which I read recently. So as the author points out, far from teaching the girls magic, Tituba was a witness, perhaps unwilling, to the girls' own meddling in magic they already knew about. When they accused her and two other local women of bewitching them, she 'confessed' as the only means to stop the beatings by her small minded and money grasping master, and she stuck to her story when it became clear that those who confessed earned at least a stay of execution.
Another positive aspect of the book is the attempt to put into context the social and political situation of Salem Village, given the various difficulties, such as the suspending of the colony's charter, then being renegotiated in England, and the ongoing attacks by Native Americans who had caused heavy loss of life in more outlying parts of the New England colony. (Although I appreciate that the book was published in the 1990s, to read constantly of "Indians" in this context did become a little irritating after a while.) This did make clear that the community felt under threat from a number of directions, exacerbated by the internal problems which beset the Village - long standing rivalries between the Putnam family and their allies who were Parris' sponsors, and other families who had had land and inheritance disputes with the Putnams. The author shows how the witch hunt provided the perfect opportunity for a senior member of the Putnam family to settle old scores, through the means of his young daughter Ann who was a leading member of the accusers.
There is some attempt also to convey how stultifying and frustrating the very restricted lives of girls and women in particular were in a Puritan society where no self expression or even light hearted amusements were countenanced, as all such things were condemned as ungodly.
It is also made clear what a self-serving bunch of hypocrites most of the ministers in the colony were, especially Cotton Mather and Samuel Parris. One man only changed his mind about the witch hunt when his own wife was accused. Men like these kept the persecution going in the face of more clear and cool headed scepticism, and persisted in maintaining they had done nothing wrong when the hunt was finally wound up.
I do find a few issues with this book however. The author bends over backwards to exonerate the accusers, or at least most of them, despite showing that two were involved in fraud, jabbing themselves with pins, biting themselves or using pieces of torn sheet that the father of one had supposedly torn from the invisible clothing of a 'spectre' (most of the 'evidence' against the supposed witches were their shapes which tormented the accusers while being invisible to everyone else). Hill also doesn't make enough of the incident at the tavern where the girls called for a particular 'witch' to be hung, but didn't bother to put on their usual act of fits, convulsions and the like - when the tavern keeper's wife and another bystander called them liars, they said that they must have 'sport', in other words, diversions or amusements. So sending people to their deaths was basically a game to them, and this is hard to reconcile with the author's assertion that most of them were genuinely hysterical and believed they were bewitched. Especially since one who tried to recant was then accused by her ex-colleagues and intimidated into withdrawing her confession and rejoining their ranks.
Also, it is natural that a lot of the evidence is sketchy because court records were lost, and only copies made for other purposes survive. However the author attempts to fill in a lot of the gaps with speculation and a sort of pop psychology as to why people acted in a particular way. At a distance of four centuries this has many perils. People of that time genuinely believed in spirits, devils, and that human beings could change shape and fly through the air if they had become witches. So it is pretty difficult to enter into that mindset, to say the least. The author does tend to draw on modern psychology for explanations where there is no extant evidence, and to make parallels with recovered memories (there had been Satanic abuse scandals around the time this was published, where the memories were shown to be false ones implanted by therapists).
On the whole then, for me this is a 3-star rating.
June 12, 2013
As an academically-minded graduate student in Literature and Theology, I could not get through this book. While it does fulfill the promise of providing a broad overview of the events that did occur, each narrative is flooded with Hill's personal beliefs, beliefs that consistently ignore the contextual and contemporary perspectives. Many phrases like "one can easily imagine" attempt to make the reader believe that Hill's explanation, usually one about a fradulent, fear-mongering Puritan society that doesn't actually believe its beliefs, seem like the only possible one. Sentences like "Never was the principle of the leading question eliciting the expected information more graphically illustrated" and repeating use of "leading questions" in the midst of what is supposed to be an account of the most accurately recorded (according to Hill's commentary) interrogation are hardly academic and barely allow a reader that did not have an opinion before beginning a book to come to any thought other than Hill's. Hill begins judging Puritan society and belief in the first pages. Karen Armstrong's Introduction sums up accurately Hill's apparent starting belief, that "They [Puritans] also brought from Europe an inadequate concept of religion" (ix).
I was able to read through the end of the fourth chapter, but when the fifth chapter began "Charles Upham, writing in the mid-ninteenth century, believed that Parris and Thomas Putnam had told Tituba in advance what to say when she confessed" - such a preposterous idea that does not fit at all what we know about Puritan society and yet is presented here as the best of all research conducted - I knew, then, that I was doomed, and would not find in this book the good historical overview that pays attention to actual, contextual historical realities.
This is the book for you, only if you are looking for an easy, simple excuse to be made for the terribly tragic and incredibly influential events of late 17th-century Salem.
I was able to read through the end of the fourth chapter, but when the fifth chapter began "Charles Upham, writing in the mid-ninteenth century, believed that Parris and Thomas Putnam had told Tituba in advance what to say when she confessed" - such a preposterous idea that does not fit at all what we know about Puritan society and yet is presented here as the best of all research conducted - I knew, then, that I was doomed, and would not find in this book the good historical overview that pays attention to actual, contextual historical realities.
This is the book for you, only if you are looking for an easy, simple excuse to be made for the terribly tragic and incredibly influential events of late 17th-century Salem.
July 4, 2017
Excellent account of the Salem witch trials. Gives a fantastic feel for teh political climate that gave rise to the circumstances. Although I have to genuinely disagree with the author, who thinks the girls, for the most part, kind of believed what they were saying.
Nonsense. Mary Warren tried to leave the “afflicted girls” group because they were lying and it was weighing on her conscience- she said as much. I think that makes it pretty clear nobody except maybe the youngest actually believed any of it.
Like, I’ll agree little Betty Parris, who started it, probably had no idea what she was doing and became convinced there were witches everywhere, but seventeen year olds? Essentially adult women? They knew exactly what they were doing, it wasn’t an unconscious bias that made them pick their families’ political adversaries, come on now. They’re out there biting themselves and visibly sticking pins in themselves. Ann Putnam begged forgiveness years later for her (prominent) role in the trials- would you apologize if you had genuinely believed what you were saying? This wasn’t hysteria, this was murder.
Am doing a readthrough of Salem witch trial nonfiction, novels, plays, etc. since I’m working there at the moment and it’s fun to wander around Salem and Danvers and see the places discussed. (I walk past the house of Jonathan Corwin, one of the judges, twice a day on my way to the commuter rail).
More to come xx
Nonsense. Mary Warren tried to leave the “afflicted girls” group because they were lying and it was weighing on her conscience- she said as much. I think that makes it pretty clear nobody except maybe the youngest actually believed any of it.
Like, I’ll agree little Betty Parris, who started it, probably had no idea what she was doing and became convinced there were witches everywhere, but seventeen year olds? Essentially adult women? They knew exactly what they were doing, it wasn’t an unconscious bias that made them pick their families’ political adversaries, come on now. They’re out there biting themselves and visibly sticking pins in themselves. Ann Putnam begged forgiveness years later for her (prominent) role in the trials- would you apologize if you had genuinely believed what you were saying? This wasn’t hysteria, this was murder.
Am doing a readthrough of Salem witch trial nonfiction, novels, plays, etc. since I’m working there at the moment and it’s fun to wander around Salem and Danvers and see the places discussed. (I walk past the house of Jonathan Corwin, one of the judges, twice a day on my way to the commuter rail).
More to come xx
November 17, 2022
I bought this book while I was in Salem Mass. Love the town, not sold on this book. It was a very slow read, even by Non-Fiction standards. It was very informative, and I may try to re-read it as I don't remember a lot of the facts.
UPDATE 11/17/22. SO I just finished re-reading this book. It was a much easier ready this go around. Maybe because I read it right after visiting Sleepy Hollow during Halloween weekend and I was in the right "Salem / New England Halloween" town mind set.
For me this is still a 3 star book. It was very detailed but to say its a "full story" is not proper in my opinion. The author has a lot of conjecture in this text still and also some points aren't detailed enough ( like the actual court room proceedings, the author mentions "leading questions" a lot. Well what were the leading questions).
What I did find very interesting was how this all came about or was thought to come about. It was a perfect storm for Hysteria. Puritan Views are rigid and religious. The "afflicted girls" are troubled girls that have no way to vent their emotion in this type of society. Childhood is not like we know it today. They were working and it was sinful to play. The political landscape was ripe for taking down ones enemy with calls of Witchcraft. The Putmans and Parris may be the wizards behind the curtain using the girls as their own weapon to further their place in society and take down past enemies that threatened their position, property and power.
The judges and their use of spectral evidence didnt help anything. Also, asking for confessions from the accused to ( save their lives for the time being) and also making them point out other witches led to hundreds of people being accused of witchcraft and spreading this like a pandemic.
Sadly after 19 people were killed, and numerous lives forever changed, the magistrates and leaders and general population all came to their senses.
UPDATE 11/17/22. SO I just finished re-reading this book. It was a much easier ready this go around. Maybe because I read it right after visiting Sleepy Hollow during Halloween weekend and I was in the right "Salem / New England Halloween" town mind set.
For me this is still a 3 star book. It was very detailed but to say its a "full story" is not proper in my opinion. The author has a lot of conjecture in this text still and also some points aren't detailed enough ( like the actual court room proceedings, the author mentions "leading questions" a lot. Well what were the leading questions).
What I did find very interesting was how this all came about or was thought to come about. It was a perfect storm for Hysteria. Puritan Views are rigid and religious. The "afflicted girls" are troubled girls that have no way to vent their emotion in this type of society. Childhood is not like we know it today. They were working and it was sinful to play. The political landscape was ripe for taking down ones enemy with calls of Witchcraft. The Putmans and Parris may be the wizards behind the curtain using the girls as their own weapon to further their place in society and take down past enemies that threatened their position, property and power.
The judges and their use of spectral evidence didnt help anything. Also, asking for confessions from the accused to ( save their lives for the time being) and also making them point out other witches led to hundreds of people being accused of witchcraft and spreading this like a pandemic.
Sadly after 19 people were killed, and numerous lives forever changed, the magistrates and leaders and general population all came to their senses.
October 21, 2024
I've always known about the Salem Witch Trials, just like most of the population. The on goings of that time have been sensationalized in media forever. However, I've never actually educated myself on the actual events that took place during that time. My bookclub chose this read for spooky month and I have to say, it was quite an interesting read. This was well written and very well researched. I couldn't help but draw comparisons to mindsets of human beings even currently. It's fascinating how we turn against each other so easily, how we're so easily manipulated by things like religion to hurt and kill each other over and over again in our human history.
I found this read to be insightful, informative and bleak. Definitely a very interesting look into the minds and lives of the Puritans of Salem at that time. My heart really broke as the story progressed. How many lives taken, ruined and dragged through the mud for nothing. It brings to mind the saying "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it". If Witches interest you, I encourage you to read the story of Salem and the victims of these trials. It's the least we can do to educate ourselves and remember them, know their names.
I found this read to be insightful, informative and bleak. Definitely a very interesting look into the minds and lives of the Puritans of Salem at that time. My heart really broke as the story progressed. How many lives taken, ruined and dragged through the mud for nothing. It brings to mind the saying "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it". If Witches interest you, I encourage you to read the story of Salem and the victims of these trials. It's the least we can do to educate ourselves and remember them, know their names.
May 18, 2015
This book is amazing--it should be required reading for high school history classes!
This book provides an incredibly detailed, up close and personal look at the unbelievable events and people surrounding the witch hunt and trials that took place in Salem. The book, or perhaps just history itself is absolutely mind-blowing, and the book is, for the most part, very well written.
Court documents and personal diaries are used to reconstruct the events and emotions from just before the witch hunt to many years after.
As in a novel, you come to know the "characters" involved which makes it very easy to follow events without feeling overwhelmed or lost. If you should happen to become confused, in the back of the book you will find a summary/description of 29 key people involved (both witches and accusers), a chronology of events from 1689 through 1706, a list of dates and names of those hanged and those who died in the dungeons as well as chapter by chapter notes on sources (separate from the bibliography). You will also find a family tree for the key family involved in the accusations which is very helpful at first due to the unoriginal use of the same names generation after generation....
There is also a map (for what its worth) of Salem village and the surrounding areas.
This is a fantastic book. I highly recommend it...to anyone...to everyone. You just cant put it down.
This book provides an incredibly detailed, up close and personal look at the unbelievable events and people surrounding the witch hunt and trials that took place in Salem. The book, or perhaps just history itself is absolutely mind-blowing, and the book is, for the most part, very well written.
Court documents and personal diaries are used to reconstruct the events and emotions from just before the witch hunt to many years after.
As in a novel, you come to know the "characters" involved which makes it very easy to follow events without feeling overwhelmed or lost. If you should happen to become confused, in the back of the book you will find a summary/description of 29 key people involved (both witches and accusers), a chronology of events from 1689 through 1706, a list of dates and names of those hanged and those who died in the dungeons as well as chapter by chapter notes on sources (separate from the bibliography). You will also find a family tree for the key family involved in the accusations which is very helpful at first due to the unoriginal use of the same names generation after generation....
There is also a map (for what its worth) of Salem village and the surrounding areas.
This is a fantastic book. I highly recommend it...to anyone...to everyone. You just cant put it down.
October 18, 2010
This book could have been very good, but it's so one-sided and full of speculation that it's not worth reading in my opinion. Comparing 21st century thinking and living to 17th century Salem just doesn't hold up. The author also has very feminist views which definitely come through and I found to be a turn-off.
January 1, 2016
I recommend strongly that you skip the introduction by Karen Armstrong, which includes such unexamined sentences as: "What Frances Hill's book shows so clearly is that bad religion can be as destructive as the most virulent atheism.")
As her subtitle shows, Hill is telling the story of the trials, from the first "fits" of Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams to the anticlimactic struggles of accused and exonerated witches to get released from prison (since in Puritan New England, prisoners had to pay for their food, clothing, and manacles--and since being accused of witchcraft and thrown in jail for months, while your property was seized by the sheriff, had a deeply deleterious effect on your solvency--the prison seems to have been kind of like a pitcher plant). And Hill is partisan, favoring the accused witches as a matter of course, but scathing about Samuel Parris and Thomas Putnam in particular, whom she sees as semi-deliberate masterminds behind the explosion of accusations. She is also trying to give as fully rounded a picture as possible, meaning that she speculates freely about various persons' psychological states and motivations.
A Delusion of Satan also has a polemical agenda: Hill is trying to draw a line from witchcraft to the clinical hysteria of the nineteenth century to the modern bogeyman, never proven, of Satanic ritual abuse and to the phenomenon of "recovered memories" (Hill's quotes, referring to the adult patients of psychotherapists who are led by their therapists to believe that they remember being sexually abused as children). I think the parallel between the afflicted girls of Salem and the hysterics studied by Charcot and his colleagues is a valid one, particularly the point Hill makes about the performances of hysteria: Charcot's hysterics could and did perform on cue, but that doesn't mean they were shamming. The connection with recovered memories is much more tenuous, and she doesn't really explain why we should believe there to be a connection at all.
Her psychological model is not sophisticated, leaning mostly on the popular filtering of Freud through feminism. (Repression is the key word here.) And I think, ultimately, she ascribes to malice (Thomas Putnam and Samuel Parris's, mostly) what needs to be at least partly understood as a radically different worldview. She tends, as other writers on the subject I've read have tended, to treat the people of Salem as if they can't really have believed in this witchcraft nonsense. But they did. It's easy, 400 years later, to say Putnam and Parris acted out of greed and wounded pride and psychological imbalance, just as it's easy to say that the twelve year old girls who sent 20 people to their deaths were more or less insane as a result of the hard, repressed, and oppressive lives they led. But we don't believe in witches the way the Puritans did.
I agree, actually, that the accusations of witchcraft were directed at particular people for reasons that were based on economics and class and parochialism. But I also think it's much more complicated than that. The people involved in the accusations sincerely believed in their own rightness. That shows very clearly in Hill's descriptions of the ministers and magistrates, particularly William Stoughton and--of course--Cotton Mather. They believed fully that what they were doing was right. And that may look disingenuous or false to an impartial observer, but the point is that these men (I'm not excluding the women, but it's the men whose responses Hill provides, except for Ann Putnam's public and pathetic confession in 1706) were not impartial.
It is possible that self-righteousness is the most dangerous human emotion.
As her subtitle shows, Hill is telling the story of the trials, from the first "fits" of Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams to the anticlimactic struggles of accused and exonerated witches to get released from prison (since in Puritan New England, prisoners had to pay for their food, clothing, and manacles--and since being accused of witchcraft and thrown in jail for months, while your property was seized by the sheriff, had a deeply deleterious effect on your solvency--the prison seems to have been kind of like a pitcher plant). And Hill is partisan, favoring the accused witches as a matter of course, but scathing about Samuel Parris and Thomas Putnam in particular, whom she sees as semi-deliberate masterminds behind the explosion of accusations. She is also trying to give as fully rounded a picture as possible, meaning that she speculates freely about various persons' psychological states and motivations.
A Delusion of Satan also has a polemical agenda: Hill is trying to draw a line from witchcraft to the clinical hysteria of the nineteenth century to the modern bogeyman, never proven, of Satanic ritual abuse and to the phenomenon of "recovered memories" (Hill's quotes, referring to the adult patients of psychotherapists who are led by their therapists to believe that they remember being sexually abused as children). I think the parallel between the afflicted girls of Salem and the hysterics studied by Charcot and his colleagues is a valid one, particularly the point Hill makes about the performances of hysteria: Charcot's hysterics could and did perform on cue, but that doesn't mean they were shamming. The connection with recovered memories is much more tenuous, and she doesn't really explain why we should believe there to be a connection at all.
Her psychological model is not sophisticated, leaning mostly on the popular filtering of Freud through feminism. (Repression is the key word here.) And I think, ultimately, she ascribes to malice (Thomas Putnam and Samuel Parris's, mostly) what needs to be at least partly understood as a radically different worldview. She tends, as other writers on the subject I've read have tended, to treat the people of Salem as if they can't really have believed in this witchcraft nonsense. But they did. It's easy, 400 years later, to say Putnam and Parris acted out of greed and wounded pride and psychological imbalance, just as it's easy to say that the twelve year old girls who sent 20 people to their deaths were more or less insane as a result of the hard, repressed, and oppressive lives they led. But we don't believe in witches the way the Puritans did.
I agree, actually, that the accusations of witchcraft were directed at particular people for reasons that were based on economics and class and parochialism. But I also think it's much more complicated than that. The people involved in the accusations sincerely believed in their own rightness. That shows very clearly in Hill's descriptions of the ministers and magistrates, particularly William Stoughton and--of course--Cotton Mather. They believed fully that what they were doing was right. And that may look disingenuous or false to an impartial observer, but the point is that these men (I'm not excluding the women, but it's the men whose responses Hill provides, except for Ann Putnam's public and pathetic confession in 1706) were not impartial.
It is possible that self-righteousness is the most dangerous human emotion.
September 7, 2016
Sottotitolo: una storia vera del 1692. L’autrice, una storica inglese che da oltre un ventennio trascorreva le estati nel New England, accortasi nel 1992 che non esisteva un saggio che esaminasse completamente il tragico fenomeno della caccia alle streghe a Salem Village e nei dintorni, decise di fornirlo lei stessa. La prima edizione risale al 1995. Dopo quasi tre anni di ricerche la Hill giunge alla conclusione che senza dubbio fu l’ambiente austero dei puritani a provocare le crisi di isteria delle bambine, aggravate da una vita dura e dal religioso terrore del demonio che i puritani vedevano ovunque ed in chiunque. Poi ci si misero le beghe politiche interne della colonia inglese del Massachusset. Come anche da noi, si accusava qualcuno di stregoneria per privarlo dei propri averi. Furono i padri delle bambine, accecati dal loro zelo religioso, dall’invidia verso i più fortunati, dall’amarezza di certe beghe per delle eredità, a trasformare una malattia in strumento per perseguire i propri disonesti fini. Alla faccia del fatto che fossero ecclesiastici, giudici e benestanti. Gli eventi di quel 1692 dimostrarono al mondo che non ci si può fidare delle teocrazie né delle parole dei bambini, prese per oro colato dalla gente dell’epoca. Fin quando le bambine non cominciarono ad accusare i loro parenti.
L’edizione tradotta è però quella del 2002. La postfazione dell’autrice mostra chiaramente come, nella sua visione, dopo la caccia alle streghe di Salem, ci fu sulla stessa falsa riga quella di McHartur contro i comunisti nell’immediato dopoguerra, quella contro presunte molestie sessuali a danni di bimbi dell’asilo in diversi stati ed infine qualcosa di simile stava accadendo dopo l’undici settembre verso i mussulmani americani e gli stranieri in genere.
La parte interessante della riflessione, a mio modesto parere, è quella sugli abusi presunti della scuola materna di “Little Rascals” a Edenton, nel North Carolina nel 1995. Evento che ricorda il recente caso italiano di quella cittadina nel Lazio. Dove la paura dei genitori ha talmente influenzato i figli da convincerli a denunciare gente innocente di molestie sessuali mai avvenute. Dove ogni raziocinio è stato abbandonato e la gente non riesce più a distinguere tra ciò che essi paventano e ciò che è vero o falso. E dove i bambini, pur di non vedere i genitori soffrire, dicono tutto ciò che i genitori vorrebbero sentirsi dire. Il risultato è sempre quello: gente condannata alla pubblica gogna senza processo, famiglie distrutte dall’invidia, dalla paura, dalla gelosia e dalla voglia di riscatto dei meno agiati verso i più abbienti con la scusa di voler proteggere dei bimbi che in realtà dovrebbero esser protetti solo dai loro genitori.
L’edizione tradotta è però quella del 2002. La postfazione dell’autrice mostra chiaramente come, nella sua visione, dopo la caccia alle streghe di Salem, ci fu sulla stessa falsa riga quella di McHartur contro i comunisti nell’immediato dopoguerra, quella contro presunte molestie sessuali a danni di bimbi dell’asilo in diversi stati ed infine qualcosa di simile stava accadendo dopo l’undici settembre verso i mussulmani americani e gli stranieri in genere.
La parte interessante della riflessione, a mio modesto parere, è quella sugli abusi presunti della scuola materna di “Little Rascals” a Edenton, nel North Carolina nel 1995. Evento che ricorda il recente caso italiano di quella cittadina nel Lazio. Dove la paura dei genitori ha talmente influenzato i figli da convincerli a denunciare gente innocente di molestie sessuali mai avvenute. Dove ogni raziocinio è stato abbandonato e la gente non riesce più a distinguere tra ciò che essi paventano e ciò che è vero o falso. E dove i bambini, pur di non vedere i genitori soffrire, dicono tutto ciò che i genitori vorrebbero sentirsi dire. Il risultato è sempre quello: gente condannata alla pubblica gogna senza processo, famiglie distrutte dall’invidia, dalla paura, dalla gelosia e dalla voglia di riscatto dei meno agiati verso i più abbienti con la scusa di voler proteggere dei bimbi che in realtà dovrebbero esser protetti solo dai loro genitori.
May 25, 2008
Honestly, I am not one for Colonial America. I grew up in Boston, so I've had the Revolution crammed into me. However, I found this book extremely intriguing. It takes a very different approach to the Salem Witch Trials. We always see these trials as a "simple" witch hysteria, but it was so much more than that. Hill does an excellent job at showing all aspects of what really happened in Salem, and presents it in an interesting way. It really kept my interest straight through. It's one of the few books I've really enjoyed reading in a class.
April 29, 2013
Fully fleshed out account of the Salem Witch Trials of the 1690's. Author Frances Hill showcases the factors leading up to, during and following the hysteria, and provides some interesting speculations on why and how it all came to pass. This isn't the definitive book on the trials, but it's a darn good place to start for those readers who know little about this part of American history, or those who want a fuller account. No dry academic reading here.
June 23, 2025
An indictment of religion, a proof that god either does not exist or is psychotic, and an absolutely tragic and sad witch hunt that actually occurred, compared to the misuse and overuse of that phrase within the current political community. A concise narrative of how things actually happened. Delusions or just plain evil, or are they one and the same? A riveting read.
October 28, 2015
First book I have ever returned. This was a chore and bore to the end. I question this author's prowess as a Historian first, and her ability to write an engaging piece of work, second. She manipulates and in some cases flat out fabricates historical events to suit her fancy and personal agenda. Through careful use of language she seamlessly weaves a mountain of probabilities through a minute amount of actual historical facts so that it may look like a complete depiction. This could be forgiven if the author's desire was to write a compelling novel. However, using her own opinions and preferred side of politics she actually manages to create a narrative which is more banal and less entertaining than reality itself. I thought this book may contain some enlightening (or my god at least interesting) information that does not stick to the ever so popular diatribe. I was disappointed. I didn't get much from this book that I wasn't already taught in sociology 101 or that I couldn't glean through the views of know-it-all-Lisa Simpson in an episode of "Treehouse of Horror". Many times she ignores naturally interesting points that occur throughout the story. Sometimes she openly dismisses them refusing to explore further on the basis that they are not valid or important. This makes for an incredibly one sided message: witchcraft was non existent then and is misunderstood today, religion is ignorant and silly and the only evil in the world (which we are all still guilty of by the way) is oppression of society's most vulnerable people, women, the poor, the visibly different. I know that the Salem witch trials were a wide-spread example of social injustice in early North American history. I know many innocent people were killed and many a human right violated, and that as a society we must not repeat this grave error, but that is precisely why I didn't need this lecture of a book. Like Ugh we all get it rich people, white people and religious people are the worst. Tell us something we don't see in the news everyday.
March 6, 2024
Well I found this book totally fascinating. I feel like the author present a very fair and balanced treatment. She presented her hypothesis, and her support for it, while also explaining why she did or did not agree with other scholars. From the beginning she explained that there is much we simply can’t know, because so much deals with individual motives, and there simply isn’t extant evidence for that. The best we can do is examine the evidence we have and surmise from there, which, as I mentioned, Ms. Hill does well, and only once or twice forgets herself and presents an opinion as though it were fact.
Ambleside Online recommends reading some original documents pertaining to the trials in their Year 9 curriculum, and I have done that with previous students using selections from Frances Hill’s Salem Witch Trials Reader, which is the collection of primary source documents on which this title is based. The collection, and Ms. Hill’s knowledge, is extensive, and I think either title would be a good addition to any student’s history studies.
Ambleside Online recommends reading some original documents pertaining to the trials in their Year 9 curriculum, and I have done that with previous students using selections from Frances Hill’s Salem Witch Trials Reader, which is the collection of primary source documents on which this title is based. The collection, and Ms. Hill’s knowledge, is extensive, and I think either title would be a good addition to any student’s history studies.
November 16, 2010
This non-fiction book not only describes the events during the period of the Salem witch trials but it also looks at the various possible social, psychological, political, and religious reasons that the whole thing happened. Although it was a tad repetative in the descriptions of what the accusers claimed each "witch" did to them, there is a lot of really interesting information in this book. There is a list of people (which could have been more thorough) and a timeline at the end of the book for reference. I didn't notice that until I was several chapters in.
May 16, 2020
A Delusion of Satan was one of the best books I have read so far on the Salem Witch-trials. Hill delivers a haunting analysis of the events of 1692, as well as an in-depth study on the background of each important character of the witch-trials; the magistrates, the towns people, the afflicted girls and the accused. We also get a detailed overview of the political, economical and cultural landscape of the Massachussets, the tension resulted from the native american wars and how the Puritan mentality of the time impacted today's american culture.
February 3, 2008
I remember reading The Crucible in high school, being told it was a "true story" and wondering just how much and which parts were true. With A Delusion Of Satan, Frances Hill has done an outstanding job of examining the bizarre events that began in Salem Village in the winter of 1692 in amazing and enlightening detail. Using what written records exist from the time and examining the background and character of the principal players, Hill turns the story of the Salem Witch Trials into a psychological study of hysteria. Hill also includes a great deal of information about the environment these events took place in and draws parallels with more recent outbreaks of mass hysteria and "witch hunting." This is an extraordinary book.
November 8, 2025
New England 1692. Nella comunità puritani di Salenle figlie del reverendo Parrus, vengono colte da violente crisi isteriche quasi fossero perseguitate da oscure forze maligne. Ben presto i fenomeni aumentano e anche gli accusatori. Donne sole, anziane, che sono ai margini della società, vengono accusate di stregoneria. Si mescolano fanatismo religioso, interessi economici, vendette private. Molti innocenti pagheranno in base ad una semplice accusa. Un saggioche è un libro fondamentale sulla caccia alle streghe. Consigliat. Voto: 8
December 13, 2013
Hill provides some juicy details and grisly bits that I haven't heard before, but not enough to overcome the personal opinions disguised as facts, unsubstantiated suppositions, and non-essential tangents of the day-to-day drudgery of Puritan lives. The book eventually got very repetitive, using the same phrases and examples over and over. It read very much like an essay heavily padded to stretch it out into book length.
October 24, 2024
Less than 30 years old but startlingly outdated (or uninformed) about abuse and psychological conditions.
The book repeatedly states things along the lines of "it is impossible to think that respectable men would sexually abuse their own relatives". "Modern therapists inexplicably believe tales of child abuse to advance their own profession."
Gets one star for at least telling the Salem story. But really given the above, no one should read this.
The book repeatedly states things along the lines of "it is impossible to think that respectable men would sexually abuse their own relatives". "Modern therapists inexplicably believe tales of child abuse to advance their own profession."
Gets one star for at least telling the Salem story. But really given the above, no one should read this.
May 30, 2012
Not well documented, very speculative. Tries to psychoanalyze people, but I am not convinced by her arguments.
October 17, 2016
So many historical facts.
September 11, 2020
This is a concise narrative of the events of the Salem Witchcraft Crisis, from its beginning to its eventual petering-out, ending with the final fading-away from history of its main players, from Cotton Mather to Ann Putnam to Samuel Parris. Far from being a dry history text, it is a vividly-told story, and not one without its biases and assumptions. Hill is not shy about making character judgments on the historical figures she describes, nor about making assumptions on the basis of thin evidence, and brushing them away with phrases a history reader will recognize for the veiling gestures that they are: "it seems likely that," "most likely, it was," "almost certainly, it happened that," and so on.
Ultimately, however, this is a nitpick that might not be bothersome to most readers. This book is simply easy and pleasurable to read, for a lover of nonfiction and history. For that reason, it would make a good and thorough introduction to the events in Salem, especially as it is not especially bogged down in the kind of contextualizing and deep-diving that can make history writing so dense and sometimes difficult to enjoy. It moves along at a fast clip, and manages to sketch the far-distant but still-relevant Puritan society for us in a frank and humane way, with an honest look at the many peculiar personalities who occupied this embattled corner of the colonial world.
It also integrates the thorny local politics of Salem Village, which are now generally considered to be the root of the trials. Hill skillfully shows how these petty, small-town aggressions reflected wider changes taking place in the world of colonial New England, making the rural village a microcosm of the society's greater concerns. It's shocking and disturbing to see that 20 deaths and the destruction of many more lives could ensue from what was, ultimately, a set of petty rivalries and lots of bickering, on the basis of differing values and shifting norms. In that respect, it's hard to fault Hill for the judgments embedded in her telling: all told, what happened was pretty nuts.
Ultimately, however, this is a nitpick that might not be bothersome to most readers. This book is simply easy and pleasurable to read, for a lover of nonfiction and history. For that reason, it would make a good and thorough introduction to the events in Salem, especially as it is not especially bogged down in the kind of contextualizing and deep-diving that can make history writing so dense and sometimes difficult to enjoy. It moves along at a fast clip, and manages to sketch the far-distant but still-relevant Puritan society for us in a frank and humane way, with an honest look at the many peculiar personalities who occupied this embattled corner of the colonial world.
It also integrates the thorny local politics of Salem Village, which are now generally considered to be the root of the trials. Hill skillfully shows how these petty, small-town aggressions reflected wider changes taking place in the world of colonial New England, making the rural village a microcosm of the society's greater concerns. It's shocking and disturbing to see that 20 deaths and the destruction of many more lives could ensue from what was, ultimately, a set of petty rivalries and lots of bickering, on the basis of differing values and shifting norms. In that respect, it's hard to fault Hill for the judgments embedded in her telling: all told, what happened was pretty nuts.
July 19, 2017
One of the founding precepts of the United States is the freedom to practice religion as one sees fit. Some of the earliest settlers of some of the British colonies was the freedom to conduct their religion outside of the constraints of the orthodoxy of the Church of England. Once freed from the bounds of the Anglican Church, however, many of the colonies established their own orthodoxies which was even less tolerant of dissent than anything that had been found in England. Such was the case of Puritan Massachusetts in the late 17th century. The atmosphere of colonial Massachusetts demanded conformity in attitudes, dress, behavior, and piousness. This led to the situation of a feeling of repression and oppression, especially among the disenfranchised.
Frances Hill, in this book, examines the political and social circumstances extant at that time and leads the reader through the most notorious witch hunt in history. Hill posits that the social conditions led directly to the accusations that led to the deaths of 20 probably innocent people. Hill investigates the reality of the accusers and the actual physical manifestations that they experienced. But the political machinations between two of the families of Salem behind the scenes led to many of the accusations as enemies of one family against the other. Hill examines how the frenzy of the hearings and the suspect legal procedures resulted in a mass hysteria that only subsided when the reality of the executions, especially of some of the most pious members of the community, really hit the villagers in the face.
The main issue I would have is this book is that some of Hill's conjectures of psychological conclusions are somewhat dubious. She will often project her own thoughts and conclusions on to the characters when the evidence does not wholly support it. Overall, however, this book gives an excellent, no-nonsense, blow-by-blow account of the strange year of 1692 in Salem.
Frances Hill, in this book, examines the political and social circumstances extant at that time and leads the reader through the most notorious witch hunt in history. Hill posits that the social conditions led directly to the accusations that led to the deaths of 20 probably innocent people. Hill investigates the reality of the accusers and the actual physical manifestations that they experienced. But the political machinations between two of the families of Salem behind the scenes led to many of the accusations as enemies of one family against the other. Hill examines how the frenzy of the hearings and the suspect legal procedures resulted in a mass hysteria that only subsided when the reality of the executions, especially of some of the most pious members of the community, really hit the villagers in the face.
The main issue I would have is this book is that some of Hill's conjectures of psychological conclusions are somewhat dubious. She will often project her own thoughts and conclusions on to the characters when the evidence does not wholly support it. Overall, however, this book gives an excellent, no-nonsense, blow-by-blow account of the strange year of 1692 in Salem.
June 19, 2024
I read A Delusion of Satan: The Full Story of the Salem Witch Trials for the June meeting of The Book Club for the Morbidly Curious.
I truly was amazed by this book. I did have to read in smaller chunks, because there was so much information, I found myself zoning out after 10-15 pages, but it was worth it. Before learning the detailed history, my understanding of the Salem Witch Trials came largely from The Crucible, and the ideas that women accused of witchcraft during this time were somehow societally odd, didn't go to church, weren't married, etc. I didn't know the political stake that was happening in Salem, or how the Putnams (and others) used the accusations as a tool of vengeance and political power.
I tried to post quotes that stood out to me as I went, to reference back to, but I have this book tabbed 28 times. I found the most interesting parts - how the prison system worked, and kept people oppressed, the people who were accused, including a 4 year old girl, and why it took so long for individuals to be brought to trial and why it took so long for the culture to put a stop to the madness.
It is frustrating that those who caused this spectacle that stole life and property from innocent people skirted responsibility by claiming they were all victims due to this great "delusion of Satan."
The last words of the book also bring up a great point:
Puritanism's legacy to the new Yankee world of self-help, individualism, and personal ambition was vast. It bequeathed self-discipline, self-denial, and moral and intellectual rigor. However, it also bequeathed the tendency to separate evil from good and place evil outside the self and outside the group, in the enemy. With that tendency came another: to regard such an enemy as deserving of destruction.
Such impulses lurk in us all. America's Puritan legacy gives them dangerous sanction. They can be countered only by constant reminders of our common humanity."
I truly was amazed by this book. I did have to read in smaller chunks, because there was so much information, I found myself zoning out after 10-15 pages, but it was worth it. Before learning the detailed history, my understanding of the Salem Witch Trials came largely from The Crucible, and the ideas that women accused of witchcraft during this time were somehow societally odd, didn't go to church, weren't married, etc. I didn't know the political stake that was happening in Salem, or how the Putnams (and others) used the accusations as a tool of vengeance and political power.
I tried to post quotes that stood out to me as I went, to reference back to, but I have this book tabbed 28 times. I found the most interesting parts - how the prison system worked, and kept people oppressed, the people who were accused, including a 4 year old girl, and why it took so long for individuals to be brought to trial and why it took so long for the culture to put a stop to the madness.
It is frustrating that those who caused this spectacle that stole life and property from innocent people skirted responsibility by claiming they were all victims due to this great "delusion of Satan."
The last words of the book also bring up a great point:
Puritanism's legacy to the new Yankee world of self-help, individualism, and personal ambition was vast. It bequeathed self-discipline, self-denial, and moral and intellectual rigor. However, it also bequeathed the tendency to separate evil from good and place evil outside the self and outside the group, in the enemy. With that tendency came another: to regard such an enemy as deserving of destruction.
Such impulses lurk in us all. America's Puritan legacy gives them dangerous sanction. They can be countered only by constant reminders of our common humanity."
July 6, 2023
I picked this up during a short trip to Salem because I wanted to learn about the town and historic event through a lens of historical analysis rather than the exaggerated story fed to us by fictional media.
This book did that and more. While some might argue the author took liberties in over speculation of the events and inferred how those affected might have felt or thought at the time, I found that commentary from an expert on the topic enlightening and painted a vivid picture with depth.
The Salem Witch Trials were, without a doubt, a heinous human rights violation against vulnerable individuals and tore whole families apart. The urge to dilute that fact into cutesy/witchy “vibes” should be resisted. (In the same way a mass underwater burial ground shouldn’t be leveraged for expensive submersible tourist jaunts)
This book did that and more. While some might argue the author took liberties in over speculation of the events and inferred how those affected might have felt or thought at the time, I found that commentary from an expert on the topic enlightening and painted a vivid picture with depth.
The Salem Witch Trials were, without a doubt, a heinous human rights violation against vulnerable individuals and tore whole families apart. The urge to dilute that fact into cutesy/witchy “vibes” should be resisted. (In the same way a mass underwater burial ground shouldn’t be leveraged for expensive submersible tourist jaunts)
November 10, 2017
Questo non è un romanzo ma un saggio sulla persecuzione alle streghe di Salem.
Una storia vera che ha dell'incredibile ma che fa riflettere tantissimo sulla natura umana che si è resa colpevole di atrocità terribili, uccidendo persone innocenti,incarcerando uomini,donne e bambini costretti a rimanere legati per giorni in posizioni disumane,in condizioni penose e con la beffa che gli accusati dovevano perfino pagare le rette carcerarie..tutto questo sulla base di accuse che possono essere solo il prodotto della follia a cui una comunità chiusa e ignorante può portare...una mente razionale non può accettare queste cose e pensare che siano accadute veramente fa inorridire..
Consigliato per chi vuole approfondire l'argomento.
Una storia vera che ha dell'incredibile ma che fa riflettere tantissimo sulla natura umana che si è resa colpevole di atrocità terribili, uccidendo persone innocenti,incarcerando uomini,donne e bambini costretti a rimanere legati per giorni in posizioni disumane,in condizioni penose e con la beffa che gli accusati dovevano perfino pagare le rette carcerarie..tutto questo sulla base di accuse che possono essere solo il prodotto della follia a cui una comunità chiusa e ignorante può portare...una mente razionale non può accettare queste cose e pensare che siano accadute veramente fa inorridire..
Consigliato per chi vuole approfondire l'argomento.
September 12, 2024
Informative and perfect to give me some context prior to my trip to Salem. I think it had some formatting issues and would’ve been better organized strictly chronologically in terms of the evens that happened.
October 7, 2024
This author is definitely skeptical about the fits that the girls had. Not a fan of any of the hypotheses that give the accusers some kind of out, (like ergot poisoning) but takes the line that much of this was performance by the accusers.
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