Study On The Salem Witchcraft Crisis History Essay

Study On The Salem Witchcraft Crisis History Essay The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 represents a low point in the history of colonial New England. There have a variety of interpretations crafted in an effort to explain the rise of this period of crisis. Some interpretations blame ergot poisoning or an outbreak of encephalitis as the primary causes of the SajgmJWitchcraft Crisis.1 Other historians have argued that it was the social and political discord among the men of Salem that engineered the rise of the Salem witchcraft calamity.2 Mary Beth Norton, in her work In The Devils Snare, offers a significant departure from the current historiography of the Salem witch craft crisis. Norton argues that the Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 can only be understood by examining the military conflict between the English settlers and the New England Native Americans which occurred for the better part of two decades. The author is quick to note that the military conflicts did not cause the crisis that befell Salem rather, these conflicts create d the circumstances that enabled the events in Salem to develop as quickly and as completely as they did.4 In developing her thesis, Norton presents her interpretation in a chronological fashion focusing primarily on the events swirling out of control in Essex County, Massachusetts in the early 1690s.5 Not only does Norton make the link between the ensuing military conflicts of the settlers and the natives with the ongoing witchcraft crisis, she also discusses a myriad of other topics. Norton through the course of her work examines the change of the Salem Witchcraft Crisis over time, the unique elements inherent to the Salem Witchcraft Crisis, and she also provides an historical look at the first and second Indian wars.6 In order for Norton to engage in an intelligent discourse of these aforementioned topics she uses a generous amount of journal articles, secondary source materials, and primary sources. She draws upon such secondary source works as Salem-Village Witchcraft, and A Quest For Security: The Life of Samuel Paris; The 1 Mary Beth Norton, In The Devils Snare (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002), p.4. 2 Norton, Devils Snare, p.4. J Norton, Devils Snare, pp.5,12. 4 Norton, Devils Snare, p.298. 5 Norton, Devils Snare, p.7. 6 Norton, Devils Snare, pp.6,8,11. Sermon Notebook of Samuel Paris, 1689-1694, and Cotton Mathers Wonders Of The Invisible World are among the primary source materials that are used by Norton. By understanding Nortons thesis, viewing the various topics addressed in this work, and the sources used to construct this interpretation one must consider the main points Norton brings up in support of her thesis. The lives of two New England women, and a household slave were irrevocably altered on February 25, 1692. Upon that very day Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and a slave named Tituba were accused of being beholden to Satan, and in his employ as witches. Of the three women that were accused of witchcraft, Norton argues, it is the charges against Tituba that are the most significant.7 The racial identity of Tituba, Norton notes, played a decisive role in her joining both Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne among the first of the accused. Historians have debated as to whether Tituba was an African or even a half-African slave, but Norton explains that in the surviving records related to this event villagers commonly referred to Tituba as Tituba Indian or the o Indian woman. This racial connection between Tituba, as an Indian, placed her within a similar vein of hatred that was solely reserved for the New England Native Americans by the settlers of Essex County, and ultimately elsewhere in the New England colonies.9 Norton notes the significant timing of this accusation of witchcraft against an Indian slave: Less than a month after the devastating raid on York and following more than three years of unrelenting frontier warfare. . .the first person identified as a witch in the crisis of 1692 was someone known to all primarily as an Indian. . . .[The accusers] thus named a woman with whom they were intimately acquainted, and who could be seen as representing the people who were then tormenting New England as a whole.10 The accusation of Tituba was to send in motion a calamity, Norton argues, that was to be inextricably linked with the violence between the English settlers and the New England Native Americans.11 7 Norton, Devils Snare, p.21. 8 Norton, Devils Snare, p.21. 9 Norton, Devils Snare, p.21. 10 Norton, Devils Snare, p.21. 11 Norton, Devils Snare, p.21. The accusation brought against the Indian slave Tituba unleashed a torrent of witchcraft accusations throughout Essex County. Another woman, Martha Corey, was accused on March 18,1692. Corey, through the course of her examination on March 21, was to further link the witchcraft crisis in Essex County to the ongoing violence with the Native Americans. Martha Coreys examination added the figure of the spectral black man.12 The spectral black man was witnessed by one Coreys accusers, Abigail Williams, who stated, There is a black man whispering in [Martha Coreys] ear.1 Norton explains that the term black man was generally employed interchangeably with Indian during this period in New England, as a means of addressing the native people of New England.14 It is Cotton Mather in his work Wonders of the Invisible World who makes the connection absolutely explicit, [T]he Black Man. . .they [the confessing witches and accusers] generally say he resembles an Indian.15 It is casually remarked by Norton that such an association between Indians this black man and Satan would not have been surprising to the residents of Essex County: English settlers. . .had long regarded North Americas indigenous residents as devil worshippers. . . .Puritan New Englanders. . .were particularly inclined to see themselves as antagonists of the devilish Indians.1 Martha Coreys fraternization with a spectral black man implied a direct alliance between Satan and the Native Americans of New England.17 The frequent references by confessors and those afflicted by witchcraft proved to establish an illicit connection between the witchcraft crisis of Salem and the ongoing military conflicts with Native Americans. The link between the witchcraft crisis and the military conflicts between the 18 Native Americans was made absolutely clear by the confession of Abigail Hobbs. On April 19, 1692 Abigail Hobbs confessed. Through the course of her examination, Hobbs 12 Norton, Devils Snare, p.58. lj Norton, Devils Snare, p.58. 14 Norton, Devils Snare, p.58. 15 Norton, Devils Snare, pp.58-59. 16 Norton, Devils Snare, p.59. 17 Norton, Devils Snare, p.59. 18 Norton, Devils Snare, p.81. admitted to having met the devil on the Maine frontier in 1688.iy During her time in Maine Hobbs stated that she encountered the devil in the woods near her home in Falmouth, Maine, which was one of the main areas attacked by the Native Americans in both the first and second Indian wars.20 To any who were present at this examination on April 19 the connection was clear: Satan and their Native American nemesis were aligned in a covenant to utterly destroy the goodly Christians of New England. Abigail Hobbs confession of having secured a pact with Satan in the woods of Falmouth. Maine left the residents of Essex County emotionally and spiritually shaken. Norton notes two specific events that demonstrate how deeply ingrained this connection between Satan and the New England Native Americans was in the collective psyche of the colonist In mid July of 1692 the port town of Gloucester many residents were convinced that their beloved town would soon be descended upon by the natives and their detested French allies. The Babson family was among the first to hear ominous sounds around their home almost every night in mid July. Ebenezer Babson and his family reported constantly heard, at night, men fleeing into the shadows discussing a plot to invade Gloucester. Norton explains that Ebenezer at one point thought, that he saw two Frenchmen. . .[and] at other times, he and others believed they spotted Indians.23 After these encounters for a period of two weeks the militia of Gloucester had occasional encounters with spectral assailants who seemed to melt into the shadowy confines of the Gloucester wood. On July 18, with the injection of some sixty militia men from Ipswich and after another week of sightings, caused the people to conclude that their shadowy tormentors were only figments of their imagination.24 This incident of a large scale case mass hysteria clearly shows the extent of the fear caused by the recent connection between the witchcraft crisis and the conflict with the Native Americans in New England. 19 Norton, Devils Snare, p.81. 20 Norton, Devils Snare, p.81. 21 Norton, Devils Snare, p.297. 22 Norton, Devils Snare, p.232-233. 23 Norton, Devils Snare, p.232. 24 Norton, Devils Snare, p.232.

Wedding Speech Delivered by the Bride :: Wedding Toasts Roasts Speeches

Cory and I feel privileged to be sharing our day with all of our fiends and families who have been important to us during our lives. Many of you traveled from afar, Canada, Seattle, Illinois, Colorado and Arizona. Thanks to all of you for the efforts and sacrifices you have made to be with us today. I want to thank the most wonderful parents a child could ever have. Not only for the love, support and guidance over the years, but also for everything you’ve done towards today. Your massive contribution has been priceless and without you both we would have never managed and today would not have been possible or so special. Thank you Mom and Dad from the bottom of our hearts. And thank you Virginia for having such a wonderful son. I would also like to say thank you to my beautiful bridesmaids. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done and for being the greatest friends ever. Suzy, my maid of honor, you have been a lifesaver. You truly are the definition of a best friend and sister. Thank you for dealing with all my indecisiveness and always being her for me. I want to thank Cory for making my life complete.

Healthy Eating Habits

As a lifelong fitness enthusiast, I know the great importance of proper nutrition. Still being able to maintain a 30 inch waistline in my middle age, I think that I should have enough proven credibility to give you a few tips on how to build healthy eating habits and make them stick. Physical activity is only 50% of the overall health equation. The other 50% is nutrition. And without healthy eating habits, one will not be able to achieve good health and fitness. So it does depend on what you eat, and in this modern age of convenience and rushed daytime schedules, it’s easy to eat unhealthy.So here are some areas to consider that will help keep you on the right health track. Educate Yourself On Food And Healthy Eating Habits In order to eat healthy, you have to understand which foods are actually healthy and which ones are not. Learn from reading nutrition books and websites. Maybe even consult a dietician to get you started. Quite often, convenient foods are laced with too muc h salt, sugar and other ingredients, which are not considered healthy. These ingredients can often be hidden, so it is important as part of your education to learn to read food labels while at the grocer.Learn what ingredients to avoid, as major components are usually listed first in the food labels. Also verify and compare fat contents since many food items — which are promoted as ‘low fat’ or ‘low calorie’ — might very well still be quite high in fat. Being educated on what is contained within various types of food will help you weed out much of the unhealthy food you otherwise might end up eating. Learn To Substitute Foods And Ingredients In the old days, healthy eating meant a diet of bland-tasting food.I still remember that veggie burger that tasted like cardboard. Those days are thankfully gone as food technology has improved significantly. Many of the lower fat versions of food items (like cheese and frozen yogurt) taste just as good as their standard â€Å"full-fat† versions. One can also still cook great tasting food at home by simply substituting some of the ingredients. For example, use olive oil instead of butter for frying. Reduce salt by adding spices instead. Choose leaner cuts of meat and trim off visible fat before cooking.Something that I’ve done over the years is to drastically cut down on red meats at home and increase my intake of fish and poultry. By learning some great recipes with fish and poultry, I really don’t miss red meat all that much. One of the big areas to substitute is in snacking. Instead of candy bars or potato chips (or other junk food), try nuts or fruit. During the hot summers, I keep a supply of frozen grapes and if I feel the urge to nibble on something, I just grab one or two frozen grapes. Not only are these healthy, they are also refreshing during hot temperatures.Keep Related Goals In Mind In order to help you stick to healthy eating habits once you plan t hem, I find that it helps to keep related goals in mind. For example, each time I look in the mirror I make a point of looking at the condition of my abs. I want to maintain a half decent physical shape so what I see in the mirror is a constant reminder that I have to keep eating well. When I see other people around my age group or even younger than me who are out of shape, I always observe that they are not eating healthy.They usually eat foods that are high in fat. Keeping observant with this helps me even more to keep away from bad eating habits since I don’t want to end up like those poor folks who have let themselves go in that department. Another goal that is more specific is that I want to be able to perform well on the ski slope during the winter and maintain my martial arts all year round. I can generally tie in my overall performance levels in these sports back to my diet as one of the elements required.See if there are any related activities that you want to do wel l that you can somehow relate back to nutrition. Then keeping this top of mind will help you steer clear of bad foods. After all, you don’t want to blame poor performance in your favorite activities partly on bad diet. Be Around Others Who Eat Healthy This last point is related to having others help you in your goals. Sometimes it’s hard to eat right when all of your friends, family members and co-workers eat unhealthy. So make sure that you spend time with other people who already eat well.This will help inspire you to eat healthy as well. You’re basically using teamwork to help you achieve the goal of eating healthy. There’s really no magic in how to build healthy eating habits and make them stick. Good health is long term and the only way to achieve it is through all the little successes that add up when you have another healthy meal and finish another workout. Follow the above tips — as I do each and every day — during your meals and sna ck periods to ensure optimum health.

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