Book Witchcraft At Salem By Chadwick Hansen example essay topic

During the year of 1692, the small town of Salem seems to have been in a state of panic and confusion. The book Witchcraft at Salem, by Chadwick Hansen, is about the witchcraft conspiracies the town has experienced. Hansen goes on to explore the truthfulness of the 'possessed' young girls. The reason why Hansen wrote the book is to try to set straight the record of the witchcraft phenomena at Salem, Massachusetts, in the year 1692, about which much has been written and much misunderstood. Hansen has a very respectable education. He graduated and obtained a Bachelors degree from the much respected Yale University.

He went on to continue his education and obtained a Ph. D. from the University of Minnesota. Hansen has had many teaching jobs throughout his life. From 1955-60 Hansen was an assistant professor at Pennsylvania State University. From 1965-70 he was a Professor of English and American studies at the University of Minnesota.

His most accomplished teaching job was when he was a professor and Director of American Civilization at the University of Iowa. To help with his teaching he was in many history groups. He was a member of the Modern Language Association, American Studies Association, and American Historical Association. Hansen has written numerous books including, The American Renaissance: The History and Literature of an Era, and Modern Fiction: Form and Idea in the Contemporary Novel and Short Story. Hansen has many qualifications to write a historical piece during the American Revolution time period. In the summer of 1692, many strange and out of the ordinary events were taking place in Salem.

Several young girls and young women began to have strange fits. They were eventually examined by doctors. 'Dr. William Griggs examined Elizabeth Paris and Abigail Williams and came to the conclusion that the evil hand is upon them. ' With this analysis he was informing the patients that they were the victims of witchcraft.

Before the girls were examined many members of the Salem community came to the conclusion that witchcraft was the reason the girls were having the strange fits. Following this was a series of hearings and trials, which resulted in the death of 20 people. This was not an uncommon practice used during that time. "Approximately nine hundred witches were burned in the single city of Bamberg, and approximately five thousand in the single province of Alsace". Using contemporary accounts and the trial documents, Hansen relates the usual details of the rise and fall of the terrible dealings that took place that year in Salem Village.

He shows how early in the year two young girls, the daughter and niece of Samuel Parris, the local minister, inexplicably fell ill and began experiencing terrible fits and suffering visions of nocturnal visitations by what the girls claimed were local witches. Hansen takes the view that several of the accused, notably Tit uba, Bridget Bishop, and the Rev. George Burroughs, and others, were practicing some form of witchcraft. He claims that while there is no direct evidence of witchcraft or pacts with the Devil. Several of these individuals could have been practicing forms of folk magic that would have gave the other villagers a reason to accuse them.

He also brings into the book into the field of psychology to add a different angle to his interpretations of the trials. Hansen's goal was to give a truthful consensus as to what really happened at Salem. He wanted to inform his audience that a psychological problem, hysteria, attributed to the witch trials. Hysteria might be thought of as a broad term, but when used in the field of psychology it has a very clear definition. Psychology defines hysteria as any physical symptoms that occur without an organic cause. 'While it is quite possible that one or even a few people suffered from this psychological disorder, there is no way this can be historically proven.

' Psychologists today have a hard enough time diagnosing patients they can examine themselves. There is no way to tell if the girls from the witch trials did have an organic cause for their afflictions. 'His other main purpose of the book seems to be to put the clergy of Boston in a more favorable light then previous history has done. ' Hansen did a good job of incorporating his primary source research into his idea that the clergy was opposed to the way the trials were carried out. One of the major issues that the clergy and the courts disagreed on was the weight the courts should give to spectral evidence. Spectral evidence during the trials was when one or more of the afflicted girls claimed they saw a specter of a person.

The claim was that the specter was sent by the person, who must be a witch, to torment one or more of the girls. This put way to much power in the hands of the girls because they could simply act like they saw a specter of someone they did not like. The Boston clergy did not agree with the accuracy of this evidence. Hansen's interpretations of the clergy and the courts are very insightful and accurate. 'Hansen writes with a high enthusiasm that makes you want to believe anything he says. ' He seems to thoroughly enjoy the subject and believe in his findings so much it can be hard to take an objective historical view.

This can be both a strength and weakness of his book. It really makes the reader consider his views because of all his enthusiasm. While his passion for the subject will keep you interested it can take away from his credibility. The New York Times says, 'It would be a great pity if readers were to underestimate Hansen's thesis because of the excessive vigor with which it is pursued. ' However when Hansen seemed to come on to vigorous he would back it up with his solid primary sources. It is obvious Hansen has researched the subject thoroughly and read many sources before writing the book.

Reading the words and journals of the people who lived during the trials adds a nice quality and truthfulness to the book. Hansen did a great job of researching the witch trials thoroughly, which makes his book unique from others. I agree for the most part of the book review that The New York Times gave it. Hansen was very thorough with his investigations and sources which revealed a different view then most have on the Salem Witch Trials. I disagree with New York Times when they say, 'Few clinicians would feel comfortable using terms like hysteria as casually as Hansen does.

Fewer still would feel qualified to diagnose the ailments of person's dead for nearly three centuries. ' I did not think Hansen used the term hysteria loosely. I believe it provided the reader with a better understanding of the different reasons the girls were acting in the nature they did. Overall I enjoyed reading Witchcraft at Salem. Hansen brought new ideas while challenging the old ones in a very enthusiastic manner. Many scholars have differing views on what happened at Salem.

Some believe that girls were lying, while some believe that a physical ailment was the cause. This book was great for a reader who wanted to find several opinions on what took place in Salem. If the reader wanted to know just the basic facts of the Salem Witch Trials then I would not recommend this book. Witchcraft at Salem requires a general knowledge of what happened during the witch trials because it goes very in depth.

This book might be confusing to someone who slept in high school history or english and knows nothing of what happened at Salem during 1962. Erikson, Kai T. "Were some of those witches real?" The New York Times. 6 July 1969, BR 5. Hansen, Chadwick.

Witchcraft at Salem. New York: George Brazil ler, 1969. Marion A. Knight, ed. "Chadwick Hansen". Book Review Digest. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1927,273..