FREE ESSAY ON "THE SALEM WITCHCRAFT TRIALS"

"THE SALEM WITCHCRAFT TRIALS"

3-4 page Research Paper on Cotton Mather 
"The Salem witchcraft trials," a phrase not too often heard these days in everyday
conversation. Witches burning at the stake, or drowning in a tub of water, and perhaps
the most humane way of their execution, hanging (5). This piece of American history is a
prudent example of how everyday people can, and were, be lead astray from what would
normally be considered ridiculous and preposterous ideas, into something that warrants
these horrible means of human demise. What or more importantly who was responsible for
this catastrophic loss of life? The Quaker society of colonial America was where these
events took place. The term Quaker refers to a member of a religious sect called The
Society of Friends, which had significant religious influence in the northeastern parts
of America, perhaps too much influence. The man who played a great part in these events
was Cotton Mather.
Cotton Mather was an extremely influential man during the 65 years of his life here on
earth (1663-1728). Cotton was the son of Increase Mather and Maria (Cotton) Mather (1).
His father, an educated man who was pastor of the Old North Church in Boston and also the
president of Harvard College, set a high precedent for his young son to follow (2).
Cotton, inspired by his father's success, graduated from Harvard College at the age of
sixteen and went on to be ordained as minister of the Old North Church in 1685 (2). It is
here where Cotton gains the seemingly blind trust of the members of this community, which
enables him to have such a significant influence on the outcome of this period of
history. Cotton used his influence as pastor through the church to convince the people
that witches were living amongst their society. This is perhaps the only negative
influence he had to society. Cotton was also an excellent writer. His major publications
were Wonders of the Invisible World in 1693, Magnalia Christi Americana in 1702,
Bonifacius year 1710, Memorable Providences, Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions in
1689 and several others. What type of man was Cotton Mather? What did he value? And how
did his writing reflect his beliefs?
Let us first start by evaluating a writing related to the events described above, The
Wonders of the Invisible World. In this publication, Mather makes many references to
accounts of eyewitness testimonies and confessions of the accused; not only to justify,
but also to prove that the Salem witchtrials were a God sanctioned attack against Satanic
works. Mather says, "He (the devil) has wanted incarnate legions to persecute us, as the
people of God have in the other hemisphere been persecuted: he (the devil) has therefore
drawn upon his more spiritual ones to make an attack upon us." (2) Mather's use of the
term "spiritual ones," is meant to represent the accused witches of the time. Witches,
Mather believes, are the work of the devil. Throughout this writing Mather quotes from
the Bible. Mather knows that the people of his church would not dare question the
validity of the Bible. So, by choosing specific verses that favor the intended goal of
his writings he is able to add rock solid validity to the statements he is making to the
members of his church. References to past situations illustrated in the Bible prove to
Mathers' audience that these situations happened once and could happen again. The
references to the Bible combined with Mather's claim of witchcraft were obviously enough
to convince the people of this town that their pastor was correct in his beliefs. 
The Negro Christianized is an essay by Mather about the relationship between slaves and
slave owners. Mather again uses the Bible to add validity to the main message. Mather
quotes Ephesians 5.9, "Masters, know that your Master is in Heaven. (7)" With this he
sends a message to slave owners so strong it is almost as if it came from God himself. 
After reading many of Mather's works it is clearly evident that he will do anything
necessary to carry out what he believes to be Gods will. Mather is a very religious man
and does everything in the name of God. A title to one of his writings was labeled "What
Must I do to be Saved?" When Mather refers to being saved he is referring to being saved
in the eyes of God. Mather believes himself to be an authority concerning the matters of
God, and at this time, especially with the Puritan society, he was considered the
authority. Every one of Mather's works has a distinct and clear point, which very often
relates to improving some aspect of ones relationship with God. At the very least his
goal is to in someway aid the reader into becoming what he believes to be a better
person. It is my belief that Mather lived his life in accordance of what he thought to be
God's will. While it is certain that Cotton Mather put forth his best effort to serve
God, I do believe that he got carried away with himself at times. Perhaps Mather was too
ambitious with his attempts to exceed his father's fame. I think that at times Mather
concentrated too much on the "how" of a situation instead of the "why." One incident that
shows this clearly is at the execution of George Burrows. At his own execution, Burrows
recited the Lords prayer perfectly, something that was believed impossible for witches to
do (6). The crowd shouted out for the execution to be stopped, but Mather intervened and
said to the crowd that Burrows was convicted in a court of law so the execution must not
be stopped (6). Was Burrows truly a witch? Or was he executed an innocent man? Or if not
a witch, nor innocent, did his crimes warrant death? With the court weighed so heavily by
Mather's influential friends and members of his church on the panel, we will never know.
Mather was influenced by many things that caused him to steer this way or that way
through life. With his father being so successful, I can imagine the admiration as a boy
Mather must have had for his popular and well-liked dad. His father, who was the
president of Harvard, probably placed great importance on his son's education. One aspect
that I personally think had a direct relationship to Mather's obsession with witches is
this; from the three wives he had, Mather fathered fifteen children, most of which died
from unknown causes. Losing one child, even though not entirely uncommon in this era was
terrible enough, but to lose most of your fifteen children would put just about anyone in
a mad rage eager to strike out and place blame on anything. Above all I would say that
the Bible influenced Mather the most. 
In conclusion, I have learned something that can be applied to a very pressing situation
in our country right now, the attack on our country by an unknown enemy. Mather lost
sight of the whole picture when he could have saved the life of George Burrows; it is
critical that we as Americans do not become overly eager to act in retaliation for the
chance that we might act in retaliation on the wrong people. 
Bibliography
Works Cited
Brockner, Frances L. "Ephemera of Cotton Mather - Collection 62." 
Billy Graham Center at Wheaton University 
Hovey, Kenneth Alan, and Joseph Fitchelberg. "Cotton Mather." Introduction. 
The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 3rd ed. 1 vols. Lexington: ? Heath, 1994.
Mather, Cotton. What Must I Do To Be Saved? The Hall Church of History. ? 
2001 
Mather, Cotton. Introduction. Memorable Providences, Relating to Witchcrafts and 
Possessions. University of Missouri 2001
Mather, Cotton. The Tryal of G.B. at a Court of Oyer and Terminer, Held in Salem, 
1692 2001
Linder, Dr. Doug. Cotton Mather. University of Missouri 2001
Mather, Cotton. "The Negro Christianized." The Heath Anthology of American 
Literature. 3rd ed. 1 vols. Lexington: ? Heath, 1994.