HIS 3319 - Witchcraft and Religion of New England

Credits: 4
1692 saw an explosion of violence and fear. In little more than a year around Salem, Massachusetts, dozens of people were accused, and nineteen were hanged as witches. Across New England, it seemed, the devil reigned. Ever since, historians, playwrights, and authors have struggled to explain and make sense of these events. This course will focus on the culture and religion of colonial New England. We will also use Salem in 1692 as a lens into historians’ differing methods and changing ways of writing about history. For example, how did historians writing in during 1950’s Communist Red Scare era approach Salem differently than historians in the early 21st century? What is the difference between a legal historian, a social historian, and a gender historian, and how might they approach the puzzle of what happened in Salem differently? What do these events tell us more broadly about colonial New England religion and culture? The course will also examine the role of the witch craze and witch hunts in popular culture, literature and films.
McDaniel Plan: Social, Cultural, and Historical Understanding; Textual Analysis