Robert Calef and the Aftermath of the Salem Witchcraft Trials
Abstract
As early as 1636 Plymouth Colony, disturbed by a fear of witches, enacted a law declaring "Solemn compaction or conversing with the devil by way of witchcraft, to be [a] capital offense liable to death. In 1641, Massachusetts, and in the following year Connecticut, adopted the biblical injunction, "If any man or woman be a witch... he or she shall be put to death. Shortly thereafter, in 1647, commenced the first of two separate epidemics of witch-hunting in New England. This movement, which lasted to 1663, was a direct result of the witchcraft frenzy in England at the time of the Civil War. As to just where and when a witch was first executed in New England there is, however, some dispute. Samuel Drake states definitely that Margaret Jones of Charlestown, Massachusetts, was the first on June 15, 1648; but according to John Taylor, Alse Young, who was hanged in Hartford, May 26, 1647, enjoys the dubious distinction.
Subject Area
American history|Law|Religious history
Recommended Citation
McManus, Joseph Abel, "Robert Calef and the Aftermath of the Salem Witchcraft Trials" (1949). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI28508760.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI28508760
