The Invisible World By The Salem Witch Trials - 1559 Words

During the Salem Witch Trials, Bridget Bishop was not granted a fair trial due to legal issues with the court proceedings. If this trial were to happen again in modern time the trail and out come would have been drastically different. The Invisible World by Cotton Mather is an excellent example of how Bridget Bishop was granted a fair trail during the Salem Witch Trials. Cotton Mather was a very well educated man and respected member of the community. He graduated from Harvard at 16 with his undergraduate degree and at 19 he completed his masters degree from Harvard. (Hudson 2015) Due to his education level he was a very creditable source and his opinions were looked at higher than the average citizen. According to Mather he wants to prove that there never were witches (Mather 1862, 129). His goal was to prove that the evidence being brought up was only spectral evidence, which is evidence that could not be proven (Hudson 2015). Most of the testimonies were all here say and would have been very difficult to prove without a reasonable doubt that they truly happened. Whenever there was a testimony that included another person seeing what Bishop did, the other witnesses’ testimony was not included. So there was no evidence to collaborate what was said. In testimony V an apple flew out of John Cook’s hand and landed many feet away in his mother’s lap (Mather 1862, 131) but Cook’s mother did not testify to helping to prove that the event did happen. She was the onlyShow MoreRelatedCotton Mather : Provoker Of Catastrophe1009 Words   |  5 PagesCatastrophe For its witnesses, the Salem Witch Trials confirmed the reality of the invisible world of spirits. The catalyst was described as a man who had an interest in the actions of Satan. That man is Cotton Mather. Mather was born into a family of ministers, including Reverend John Cotton. Mather preached his first sermon as a teenager and was ordained in his early twenties. Cotton Mather is known for his unnecessary involvement with the Salem Witch Trials. With the assistance of Cotton Mather’sRead MoreSalem Witch Hysteria And Trials1620 Words   |  7 PagesSalem Witch Hysteria and Trials Joshua Furman History 121: Early America to the Civil War Dr. Phillip Hamilton November 18, 2015  The Salem Witch Trial consisted of heinous accusations implicated by Cotton Mather which effected society as a hole and gave reasoning to the numerous amount of witch stories we hear today. Cotton Mather was the eldest son of Increase Mather, Massachusetts most influential and well known Puritan minister, and the grandson of John Cotton, Salem’s spiritualRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials : Crisis1601 Words   |  7 PagesThe Salem Witch Trials: Crisis in Salem Village Many people know of the Salem witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts in the year 1692 spilling over into the year 1693. But for those who do not know, the Salem witch trials were a series of trials against men, women, and children accused of being a witch and or practicing witchcraft. In â€Å"The Devils Snare: The Salem Witch Trials of 1692† by Mary Beth Norton, the author recollects the stories of real life accounts of those accusers andRead MoreCotton Mather And Salem Witchcraft Trials1033 Words   |  5 Pages Cotton Mather and the Salem Witchcraft Trials American Literature reveals that because of Cotton Mather’s writings there is knowledge of the Salem witchcraft trials in 1692. 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Scholars have returned again and again to this event, demanding that â€Å"Salem must be aboutRead MoreThe Salem Witch Trials Essay1584 Words   |  7 PagesThe Salem Witch Trials Throughout our nation s history, Americans have survived times of struggle by remaining strong and brave despite their fears. Disease, natural disasters, and starvation are just a few of the trials our country has faced. While these are certainly dangerous, perhaps the most frightening of all is when you fear those closest to you. This is what happened during the horrific frenzy labeled as the Salem Witch Trials. Nobody truly knows why they occurred, although there are severalRead MoreI Chose To Analyze The Primary Source Of â€Å"The Wonders Of1192 Words   |  5 PagesI chose to analyze the primary source of â€Å"The Wonders of the Invisible World,† written by Cotton Mather. He was born on February 12th of 1663 into a wealthy family of New England Puritan ministers. Cotton Mather started school at the age of twelve at Harvard College. He graduated and chose to become a member of the clergy but was unable to because of a speech impediment. He was able to overcome this how ever and a number of years later he was ordained in 1685. He became a very revered and influentialRead MoreSalem Witch Trials And The Crucible879 Words   |  4 PagesSalem Witch Trials These days, dressing up like a witch for Halloween is very normal. The year was 1962 when Salem Massachusetts was forever cemented in history because of the Salem witch trials. People accused of witch craft were imprisoned or hung and in one occasion a person was pressed to death. I can only imagine what the people of Salem were going through those days. There was a fear in the entire town because you couldn’t trust anyone. It became neighbor against neighbor as the smallRead MorePuritans And The Church Of England1301 Words   |  6 Pageswitchcraft/interacting with the devil, also known as the Salem witch trials. The Salem witch trials began in February 1692 in Salem Village, Massachusetts. It all started with a group of young girls that claimed to be possessed by the devil that started all of the mayhem soon to follow. The allegedly possessed group of young girls began accusing several local women of witchcraft; the town broke out into mass hysteria. (Salem Witch Trials, 2011) As a strongly religious community, fear of the devilRead MorePuritan Writers : The Wonders Of The Invisible World1238 Words   |  5 PagesThe Wonders of the Invisible World. Mather gives the outside world a glimpse into what the Salem Witch trials were like and how they conducted their way of figuring out who was a witch in their colony. The Wonders of the invisible world brought the audiences into the firsthand experience of a trial and made them experience it from the viewpoint of one of the citizens of that colony. Mather specifically focuses on the trial of Martha Carrier in his work. Mather discusses her trial and how she is being