From the Middle Ages to modern times, "witch hunting" activities have occurred from time to time in Europe and the United States. The so-called "witch hunt" is the witch trial, people found that there are some people (mostly women), strange style, dirty appearance, so accused them of being "witches", the church and the sheriff will form a joint trial body, the "witch suspects" to punish the "witch suspects" mercilessly. The most recent famous "witch hunt" incident occurred in the United States at the end of the 17th century, the infamous "Salem Witch Case", which led to the murder of 19 innocent people.
The scene of the Salem Witch Trial
At that time, the Industrial Revolution had broken out, and human beings were constantly updating their views on the world, but in such an era of advocating science, why did such an incredible activity as "witch hunting" appear? In fact, since ancient times, the "witch hunting" activities "hunting" are not "witches", but the weak and "aliens" who do not conform to mainstream values.
<h1>The dregs of the New England "witch hunt" are rising</h1>
The final frenzy of witch hunts took place in New England, North America. Before the founding of the United States, New England was not an open and free region, the local customs were conservative, retaining the habits of life similar to the Middle Ages, and it was not surprising that a "witch hunt" incident occurred in this place.
Medieval "Wizard Paintings"
From 1638 to 1725, witch hunts broke out throughout New England, and countless people were executed under the name of "wizards," according to Carol Karlsen in the book The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England. Of the 344 "witches" executed in New England, about 78 percent were women, known as witches, and men were often accused of having some kind of connection with "witches." As historian John Demos put it, the few Puritan men who "tried witchcraft" were mostly husbands or brothers of so-called witches.
Typical witch image
In New England, most of the colonists were Puritans, and in their communities, women's roles were merely auxiliary, without any rights or status. The Puritans of New England held values that women's obligations were to produce offspring, raise children, manage household chores, and provide their husbands with the necessities of a proper life. Women were insignificant in the Puritan community because their faith always saw women as "Eve," and Eve and her sinful apple were the root causes of human "depravity," and the Puritans believed that women were weak-willed and more susceptible to "bad things."
Fantasy witch image
The imagination of women as "witches" is not a kind of sexism, but a "strong value" derived from the social structure of the colony, and women and some cowardly men are regarded as "witches" and "wizards", which is essentially contempt and bullying of the weak. The most typical example is the "Salem Witch Trial", in which three accused "witches" were accused of 200 years ago, one was an Indian slave girl, one was a poor woman who was destitute, and one was a loner who did not participate in group activities. These people have one thing in common: they are all "good bullies" people.
<h1>Two sources of "witches"</h1>
In the Puritan communities of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, public power was held by sheriffs, judges, and clergy, who laid down the rules of former American society. Because in the colony, not only to face the untapped natural environment, but also to beware of predators and ghost-minded invaders, strength and courage are admired by people, and anyone who is weak or unable to protect himself will become a drag on the collective, even if the weak are their own compatriots, even friends and relatives, will be despised by the public.
New England Society
In the colonizer community, the weakest were undoubtedly women, who were always burdened with the label of "weak", subject to the supervision of others, and would become the target of public criticism when they tried to break through their "prescribed" roles. For men who don't seem "brave" enough, if they have too much wealth, they will be suspected of illegal gains; if they have too little wealth, they will be considered incompetent. For a woman, having too many children may indicate an agreement with the "devil"; and having too few children can also be considered to have an ulterior motive behind it.
By analyzing the numerous witch trial cases that have sprung up in New England, we can see two scenarios:
First, the parties concerned are weak and helpless, and the colonial community hates this "weak person", so the masses wantonly bully him and accuse him of being a "witch" by relying on "speculation" and "imagination".
For example, Tituba, the victim of the "Salem Witch Trial", as a slave girl of Indian descent, she is undoubtedly the lowest in the colonial community, so when the children in the community are "abnormal", she is the first to be suspected of being the culprit, and because of her isolation, she is eventually sentenced to capital punishment.
Tituba
Another example occurred in Hadley, Massachusetts, where a woman named Mary Webster married without children and relied on charity in her community for help. Mary's personality was not "obedient" and did not express enough gratitude for "almsgiving", and as a result, she was considered an ungrateful person. In 1683, at the age of 60, Mary became widowed, and she became a thorn in the side of her neighbors, who accused her of witchcraft, claiming that she had worked with the "devil" to destroy the health of livestock. Although the Boston court that dealt with the "witchcraft case" declared her innocent, Mary was accused by the people, coinciding with the sudden death of a neighbor who had accused her of witchcraft, and the other residents were more suspicious of Mary as a witch, but the court's verdict could not be changed, and the local residents could only attack the lonely Mary with vicious language, scolding her as an old witch.
Second, the person concerned did not obey the "customs", did not play the role of obedience to society that he "should" play, she looked like an outlier, so he launched a "witch" accusation against her.
Mary Parsons of Northampton, Massachusetts, as opposed to Webster, is not alone, but the wife of the richest man in town and the mother of nine healthy children, but neighbors find Parsons a domineering woman who always speaks with opinion and impassionedness. Parsons behaved less like a woman in a norno-less Puritan family than a modern woman, and in 1674 she was accused of being a "witch" by her unaccustomed neighbors. Parsons was eventually acquitted, but persistent rumors of "witchcraft" forced the family to leave their homeland and settle in Boston.
Witch Trial Court
Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne, the other two victims of the Salem Witch Trial, are also seen as "outliers" by others. Sarah Goode's husband, William Goode, accused his wife of being a "witch" because "she had a bad attitude toward him," and neighbors agreed with Goode that Sarah Goode violated Puritan values. Sarah Osborne was also considered a "witch" due to her rare participation in community activities and not going to church, and was eventually executed.
The scene of the persecution of witches
From the above examples, we can see the motivation of the "witch trial", at least in New England, people generally adhere to a "strong value", which is a value orientation that advocates the strong and desires power, while despising the weak and spurning the incompetent. A side effect of this value is that people want to be strong, do not want to be weak, in order to show their strong status, will wantonly insult the weak, specifically by wearing the hat of "witch" to the weak, with the legitimate reason of "judging witches".
Puritan families
In such a tense, heavily fortified society, the strong always hold power and enjoy unparalleled respect, so they hate people who don't abide by this set of values, as well as those who want to break through the "limits of strength and weakness" and forcibly become strong.
<h1>The essence of "witch hunting"</h1>
Statistics show that from the 13th century to the 17th century in New England, the targets of "witch hunts" were mostly women, especially widows who had no one to rely on. This bullying of the weak is particularly evident in the New England colonies, as we can see in the Mayflower Convention, known as the "birth certificate of the United States." The first Protestants sailed to North America on the Mayflower, where the 41 men on board signed a pact in which the colonists called all "voluntary self-governing self-governing bodies" in order to enable the colony to develop by "enacting laws and regulations appropriate to the colony as a whole", and in order to ensure order "we all guarantee observance and obedience (the Convention)." ”
Puritan society
The enactment of the Mayflower Convention shows that New England was indoctrinated with "strong values" at the beginning of its establishment, first, 41 men did not seek the opinions of all, but directly replaced all the colonists who crossed the sea, designing a system of expediency that they considered "good"; second, they, as strong people, subjectively drafted follow-up laws and regulations that they considered "good" to all colonists, and required all people to abide by and obey; finally, they acted as enforcers, It will strike at anyone who dares to challenge the old order.
Puritan sculpture
The colonial community of New England was indeed in an existential crisis at the beginning, so they hated the weak, oppressed the weak, and tried to eliminate the weak. But by the later stages, they have gained a foothold in the new world, they have survived without worry, and the "strong values" have been transformed into an exclusive "monster of power", and anyone who dares to challenge the old order and live according to the conventional identity will be bullied and targeted. Therefore, the object of the "witch trial" has never been the "witchcraft" that is not imaginary, but the weak and the challenger who does not want to be the weak. The essence of "witch hunting" is actually the systematic oppression of the weak, and the attachment of "strong values" to power.
bibliography:
The Demon in The Female Form: The Witch of the Colony of New England, Carol Carlson
History of the United States, Alan Brinkley
The Mayflower by Phil Brick
History of the United States, Edward Channing