Mather was a respected member of the Massachusetts Bay Colony where Salem was situated. The area was populated by Puritans – a devoutly religious group that had emigrated from England. They wished to ‘purify’ the Church of England of its Catholic practices, and the New World they found themselves in was a harsh one. With smallpox spreading and the Native American peoples hostile towards them, there was a struggle to maintain their pious, ordered religious community. Mather represents a period of time in New England that was rife with hysteria and accusation. There were many natural phenomena
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