Cotton Mather (1663-1728)

The child of a demanding, perfectionist father, Increase Mather. A child prodigy.

.Complex figure at a time of radical change: New England was becoming more secular and
commercial. Tried to come to terms with, to adapt to this change. Believed in tradition,
yet aware of its increasing decline.
.A man of science; the author of some scientific works. Elected to the Royal Academy in 1713.
.Very prolific writer; produced over four hundred publications.
.Wrote The Wonders of the Invisible World encouraged by the Salem judges.
.Supported the Salem witch trials; held in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. A notorious case
of mass hysteria; Causes of this hysteria:
.Fear and a sense of conspiracy. The witches for Mather are part of an horrible plot against the
country which if it were not seasonably discovered, would probably blow up, and pull down
all the churches. Finding an enemy to blame for the decline of the status of their colony.
Belived that the witches were a threat to the moral welfare of it.
.Greed and misogyny.
-The 1680s as a time of rapid change and many crises.
.Economic causes, conflicts between the rising mercantile class and farmers and landowners.
.In any case, a turning point in the history of New England. Contributed to the development of a
more secular society.
Bibliography
Augustyn, Adam. American Literature from 1600 through 1850s. New York: Britannica
Educational Publishing, 2011.
Gray, Richard. A History of American Literature. Oxford: Blackwell, 2004
Lauter, Paul ed. A Companion to American Literature and Culture. Malden MA:
Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
Meyers, Karen. Colonialism and the Revolutionary Road. New York: Facts on File, 2006
Vietto, Angela. Early American Literature, 1776-1820. New York: Facts on File, 2010.