Davis's Blog, Witches and Witchcraft

 

 Having a witness take the stand in any kind of trial is one of the easiest ways for the prosecution to connect with the jury. Hearing direct testimony, especially when they are filled with emotion or the occasional tear, can establish credibility and allow the jury to put themselves in the shoes of the alleged victim. Oftentimes, particularly in cases that involve children being harmed, having the actual victims testify as to their direct trauma will all but guarantee some form of legal victory. It's hard to imagine someone could lie about so much pain. While the Salem witch trials were not set before a jury, the magistrates back in that time had enough discretion with how they could rule that they almost resembled a jury. They were members of the community who would end up judging their peers and hearing all the evidence put before them. This was not the bench trials (only the judge) based upon strict legal precedent that we see in many of our courts today. When reading through...

 At the beginning of the semester, I found it very improbable that I would be able to connect a lesson from my Contending Perspectives in Economics class with anything I learned from Witches, Witchcraft, and Witch Hunts. However, with our last class complete, I can say that I was mistaken. As we read through the public confession of Ann Putnam, which occurred over a decade after the executions she was largely responsible for, I thought to myself: “Wow, Ann Putnam seems to have a view of justice almost identical to that of Karl Max and the Marxist School of economic thought. You may be thinking that there is no way that a young girl in Salem in the 15th/16th century could ever relate to the father of communism. Well, her justification for her involvement was very close to the way that Marx viewed certain negative aspects of capitalism and other economic systems. He believed that justice is a function of history and is relative. For example, we believe today that slavery is an unju...

       When I tell most of my friends and families that I am currently taking a class on witches and witchcraft, the reaction is almost always the same. Initially, they are confused and a little suspicious of what one could possibly learn. Upon my explanation of the class being purely academic and a historical examination of the trial that occurred in Salem, their tone usually changes from skeptical to interested. I can recall dozens of discussions that went through this exact progression.       In my personal opinion, their interest lies in the fact that everyone has heard about the Witch Trials that occurred in the 1600s, but the details escape them. It is not something that is talked about on a regular basis outside of the surrounding area in Massachusetts. It seems as if it is being forgotten. However, the town of Salem has done all they can to continue or even grow the buzz surrounding this tragic event. The big question is: Are they trying t...