This is where the Salem Witch Trials were held.  It looks like a regular house or a store.  When I think of the Salem Witch Trials, I think of a courthouse setting with the noose and gallows right outside.

I feel like this is somewhat symbolic of how witches were spotted.  People would see something on the outside without bothering to look deeper into whatever the case may be.

Cotton Mather's Salem Witch Trials.  At this time, most of the 1st generation of the Puritans that originally came to America are now deceased.  New generations may not know how to lead since all of their former leaders are gone.  Therefore, anyone that feels they can be a leader could take advantage of the situation.  With this power, they can point out whoever they want to be a witch.

This picture shows how educated Cotton Mather was.  There are several mispellings, but general spellings of this time were probably not in effect.  Currently though, people may see this as a text not to trust because of the mispellings on the cover.  I wonder if the people in Salem spelt things this way, and if Cotton Mather was someone that was influential, or just someone that could be a puppet to the accusers.

The quote in this excerpt was very intresting... by Increase Mather....

"...the Father of Lies [Mather declared] is never to be believed: He will utter twenty great truths to make way for one lie: He will accuse twenty Witches, if he can thereby bring one honest Person into trouble: He mixeth Truths with Lies, that so those truths giving credit unto lies, Men may believe both, and so be deceived."

This quote was very, I feel, ahead of it's time.  It is easy for us(here in the 21st century) to look at the Salem witch trials as people just blaming others because of one little thing they may have done.  Increase Mather sees that these people that have been accused may be innocent, but the people will go on any hunch they may have just in case someone could possibly be a witch.  When a crime is committed, people will blame someone they personally feel is responsible.  Police have to come in and be the third party that sorts out the facts and evidence to rightfully convict someone.  In the days of the Salem witch trials, there was no legal third party that would say that a person accused was innocent.  If someone were accused, and the majority found that there might not be a truth in the accusation, but also not find any lies, the person was basically found guilty until proven innocent.

This is a picture of "Mountain Meadows".  Indians are hiding behind rocks.

During the time of the Salem witch trials, Indians were seen as an unknown evil people.  Indians integrated into nature while the Puritans came in and destroyed it for their benefit. Since this is the case, the Puritans may be seen as a non-Cristian people. With the Salem witch trials, the Puritans were accusing their own people of being evil, but semed to leave the Indian population alone other than settling on their lands.  The Indians themselves probably were not executing their own people, or if they were, it was for a logical reason among their people.  I think in this instance, the Puritans can be looked upon as being the savages and not the Indians they accused of being savage evil people.

This text implies that most of the witchcraft that we think of today is fictional.  I think this concept is interesting because when people accused others of being witches, it was probably also fictional.

Witches may have really been in Salem.  We will never really know if they were real, so how can there be a "non-fictional" account of witchcraft?  I think what the text is really implying is that after the Salem witch trials, there were many texts that romanticized the trials.  This made the trials seem like they went further through history, thus still being a popular topic in this day and age.

If there were no one to write about these events, or make stories about them, then the witch trials may have never lasted this long as a depiction of the Puritan psyche.

This text is about Cotton Mather's diary.  It shows how Cotton Mather commented on the 1692 Salem witch trials as a "very doleful Time." This comment comes several months after the last execution.  This makes me wonder why the witch trials stopped.

Did the people of Salem realize that they were in the wrong?  Were all the accused witches simply executed to where they felt that Salem was cleansed of evil?

When people are being ridiculed, they tend to leave the situation.  Just like Pilgrims left Europe because they were being discriminated against for their religion.  Maybe people that were afraid of being accused of witch craft, or did not agree with the accusations left becuase of the possible discrimination of their life styles.

This new generation of Puritans could be more brave to leave Salem, and not stick together like they did when the land was unknown. When there is a first generation of a family, it might feel a little uncomfortable at first, and they may stick to what they know.  The next generations grow up there and are perfectly comfortable to where they can find bravery to leave.

This is the execution of Mrs. Ann Hibbins.  It shows how the executions were a very public thing.  The townspeople probably used this for entertainment purposes.  In many movies that I have seen, the town does not seem to care that the person is being hanged, but is all for it.  There is usually one person in the crowd that does not want the execution to happen.

People tend to conform to what the majority is doing.  Since the majority in Salem seemed to believe the accusations that were being put out there, there was no chance for a person to be tried into innocence.

Accusations were death sentences for people like Mrs. Ann Hibbins.