Influences on Miller’s text – Historic Background to The Crucible

 Numerous accusations of witchcraft had been made from the 14th century to the 16th
century in Europe, leading to the execution of thousands
 The Catholic Church denounced heretics as enemies; the Inquisition exposed and
punished heresy from the 1200s onwards
 The authorities did little to stop accusations between different groups – it was widely
regarded as a way of purging communities of their grievances
 People looked for marks on the bodies of the accused – ‘the devil’s mark’. Hair was often
shaved off to search for it
 During the rule of Henry VIII, the King became the head of the Church. Turning your back
on the Church after this point was thereon tantamount to treason (treason was
punishable by death)
 In 1629, the Puritans were given a charter by King James to settle and govern an English
colony in Massachusetts. The idea was to create a theocracy, with no separation of
church and state. Puritans remained British citizens
 The goal was to create a model community that would be a shining example to the rest
of the world
 Non-Puritans also moved to get away from a hard life in England. The different reasons
for people moving there was inevitably set to create friction in New England
 The concept of Satan was very real for Puritans; they regarded the demonic figure as
always watching and waiting for an opportunity to discredit the godly community. In
light of this, witch hunts were inevitable
 In Charlestown during 1648, the first witch trial was held and a woman named Margaret
Jones was hanged for suspicion of practising witchcraft
 In 1688, four Boston children were recorded as having been ‘possessed’ by a witch. The
children were ‘healed’ and the ‘witch’ was executed
 Cotton Mather – a prominent Boston minister – wrote an account of a Boston story in a
book called ‘Memorable Providences’. People of Salem deeply affected by this book, by
all accounts
 500 people lived in Salem village. It wasn’t a very settled place; there were people on
the outskirts, facing hardship and it wasn’t a very big or developed place, meaning that
there was fear of Native American attacks
 Political instability in Britain caused tension. Puritanism in itself was very difficult to live
by – constant striving for devout worship with very uncertain fate
 Puritans believed that people’s fate was cemented prior to birth – i.e. God’s plan is
already set – Heaven or Hell. People therefore constantly looked for signs in themselves
that would reveal their fate. Were they destined for heaven or hell? They were
constantly anxious to know God’s pleasure
 Gender inequality and misogyny is rooted in the Puritan faith. Women were expected to
be quiet and subservient. Women were believed to be inherently more susceptible to
the Devil’s cause. Women were regarded as naturally lustful (think Original Sin… women
are considered naturally inclined to look to know things that they are told to stay away
from)
 Bitter land disputes in Salem erupted continuously. The inhabitants of Salem village also
resented being under the political domain of Salem town. Increased tensions and
unhappiness in the village were apparent because of this
 Lots of documents about Salem trial exist, but no transcripts of the trials themselves
have ever been found. Some aspects of the story therefore remain shrouded in mystery

This is what is known / believed regarding the Salem witch trials:

 Events began in Samuel Parris’ kitchen. Their daughter (Elizabeth, 9) and her cousin
(Abigail, 11) were in the care of a slave from Barbados – Tituba. She showed them
voodoo tricks and told them about tales of magic and mystery from her homeland
 The group of interested girls grows in size from two to eight. Their ages range from 12-
20. Mary Warren and Mercy Lewis were involved in this
 The girls started to have fits, experiencing trance-like states and feeling prickled with
pins etc. They claimed that they were tempted to throw themselves in fires and that
they couldn’t bear to hear preaching (this would throw them into fits of screaming,
crying, throwing things – all very unusual behaviour for young Puritans)
 Parris called in a physician who found no medical cause for their ailments – he said it
must be spiritual. The belief in witches genuinely existed and people also believed that
witches could entice others to become witches
 Parris encouraged the girls to identify the witch who affected them. They pointed to
Tituba, who as a defenceless slave could do little to refute the claims
 The girls also accused the town beggar, Sarah Good. Her low status obviously made her
an easy target. Sarah Osborne, who had married her servant and was therefore looked
down on by the community was also accused. Neither Sarah attended church so it
followed that they could be doing the devil’s work
 A trial was held, presided over by John Hathorne. Lawyers weren’t involved – the
accused had to defend themselves and magistrates had to decide what was admissible.
They started to allow sorts of evidence that were allowed nowhere else in any other
witch trials, according to records. This included spectral evidence. This was evidence
that the accused appeared to the victim in some form – a bird, or the spectre of the
person. It wasn’t the person themselves accused – just their spectre
 Ann Putnam Jr swore that the spectre of Sarah Good tried to enlist her as a witch by
getting her to sign the Devil’s book. The other girls confirmed this, but Sarah Good
repeatedly denied it. Each denial was met with screams from the girls, who claimed that
Good’s spectre attacked them in the courtroom.
 Tituba confessed to practising witchcraft. Historians maintain that she said what she
knew the men wanted her to say – she spun elaborate tales about animals talking and so
on. She said she signed a book after being told to by a ‘tall man from Boston’ and that
there were nine names in the book, including both Sarahs. Six names she claimed not to
know, meaning other witches were still at large. Neighbours turned on each other as
suspicions about the missing six witches grew. Where else could they be?
 The status of the women who were subsequently accused was higher, e.g. Rebecca
Nurse. The accusers tended to be poorer. 39 people signed a petition to attest to Nurse’s
good character, an act that put them in danger themselves
 By Spring of 1692, more than 100 people had been arrested. The youngest was the four-
year-old daughter of Sarah Good. Relatives of the accused and those speaking out
against the proceedings were often arrested
 It became increasingly apparent that an accusation of witchcraft was death to a
reputation. Bridget Bishop was hanged in June 1692, the first victim of the witch trials
 The girls (i.e. the ‘victims’) continued to react to the testimonies – copying the accused’s
movements etc. to demonstrate the hold the ‘witches’ had
 A confession was the only way to survive - after that, the fate of the accused was
regarded as being in God’s hands. 55 of the 200 people accused took this way out
 Girls began to accuse people outside of Salem village. Suddenly these young women
(normally entirely without power) were powerful and famous. More and more were
executed. On July 19th 1692, Sarah Good, Rebecca Nurse and three other women were
hanged
 A man named Reverend George Burroughs was sentenced and as he was about to be
hung, he recited the Lord’s Prayer perfectly. Witches were supposedly unable to say the
prayer properly. Eight more people were hung after this, but these were the last (of the
24 in total who had been put to death during the witch trials and 200 who were
accused). No one was burnt at the stake. This had been outlawed 150 years earlier. Giles
Corey was ‘pressed’ to death as depicted in the play
 The executed were buried in shallow graves on un-consecrated land. Their deaths were
not recorded in the published records of the period – they were, essentially, wiped from
history
 By Autumn of 1692, the authorities began to be sceptical of the girls’ accusations, as
they were now accusing senior figures in society and eyebrows were raised at this
 The cases were moved to a bigger court in November and spectral evidence was no
longer allowed. Attitudes started to change – 49 of the 52 left accused were acquitted.
Tituba was sold back into slavery to cover the expenses involved in her arrest and trial
 Five years later, on January 16th 1697 a day of public fasting was held to ask God’s
forgiveness for what had happened. The judge and jurors from the trial signed a petition
as a show of repentance
 In 1702, an inquiry written by John Hale included an apology for the trials
 In 1706, Ann Putnam Jr (age 26) blamed the devil for encouraging her to take innocent
lives. She was the only accuser to apologise
 In 1711, the commonwealth of Massachusetts reversed the decision on 22 out of the 31
people convicted and compensation was paid. It wasn’t until 1957 that the other 9
people accused were exonerated