ISBN: 9780199890347

Beginning in January 1692, Salem Village in colonial Massachusetts witnessed the largest and most lethal outbreak of witchcraft in early America. Villagers - mainly young women - suffered… Mehr…

Beginning in January 1692, Salem Village in colonial Massachusetts witnessed the largest and most lethal outbreak of witchcraft in early America. Villagers - mainly young women - suffered from unseen torments that caused them to writhe, shriek, and contort their bodies, complaining of pinsstuck into their flesh and of being haunted by specters. Believing that they suffered from assaults by an invisible spirit, the community began a hunt to track down those responsible for the demonic work. The resulting Salem Witch Trials, culminating in the execution of 19 villagers, persists as oneof the most mysterious and fascinating events in American history. Historians have speculated on a web of possible causes for the witchcraft that stated in Salem and spread across the region-religious crisis, ergot poisoning, an encephalitis outbreak, frontier war hysteria - but most agree that there was no single factor. Rather, as Emerson Baker illustrates inthis seminal new work, Salem was ""a perfect storm"": a unique convergence of conditions and events that produced something extraordinary throughout New England in 1692 and the following years, and which has haunted us ever since. Baker shows how a range of factors in the Bay colony in the 1690s, including a new charter and government, a lethal frontier war, and religious and political conflicts, set the stage for the dramatic events in Salem. Engaging a range of perspectives, he looks at the key players in the outbreak - theaccused witches and the people they allegedly bewitched, as well as the judges and government officials who prosecuted them - and wrestles with questions about why the Salem tragedy unfolded as it did, and why it has become an enduring legacy. Salem in 1692 was a critical moment for the fading Puritan government of Massachusetts Bay, whose attempts to suppress the story of the trials and erase them from memory only fueled the popular imagination. Baker argues that the trials marked a turning point in colonial history from Puritancommunalism to Yankee independence, from faith in collective conscience to skepticism toward moral governance. A brilliantly told tale, A Storm of Witchcraft also puts Salem''s storm into its broader context as a part of the ongoing narrative of American history and the history of the AtlanticWorld. | A Storm of Witchcraft by Emerson W. Baker Hardcover | Indigo Chapters Books > History > North American History > United States > Colonial P10103, Emerson W. Baker<

2016, ISBN: 019989034X

Oxford University Press, 2014. 416p. Hardback. Series: Pivotal Moments in American History. Unbekannter Einband Baker`s work is a model of responsible historiography ... I anticipate that… Mehr…

Oxford University Press, 2014. 416p. Hardback. Series: Pivotal Moments in American History. Unbekannter Einband Baker`s work is a model of responsible historiography ... I anticipate that his historiography will serve as a model for other historians as they deal with similarly complex subjects ... His rock solid historical work and lively, engaging prose made this book both an indispensable contribution to scholarship and a delight to read. I suspect that this is the book on Salem witchcraft for this generation. Scott D. Seay, American Historical Review |a 06/01/2016 (Publisher`s information). 4 weeks, mit Schutzumschlag 11, [PU: Oxford University Press]<

ISBN: 9780199890347

Find A Storm of Witchcraft by Emerson W. Baker in Hardcover and other formats in History > United States - Colonial Period (1600-1775). Media > Books new, Oxford University Press USA

2014, ISBN: 9780199890347

The Salem Trials and the American Experience, Buch, Hardcover, [PU: Oxford University Press Inc], Oxford University Press Inc, 2014