A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience

A Storm of Witchcraft written by Emerson W. Baker is a complete and detailed analysis of the Salem Witch Trials that took place in 1692. Emerson Baker is a historical archeologist and history professor at Salem State University which in turn has led him to make the types of connections, associations, and parallels he did in his book. Baker splits his book up into sections where he summarizes the actual persecutions comprehensively in one chapter, while in the other chapters of the book he talks goes into even more specifics of the trials such as the nature of the Massachusetts at the time, the victims who were afflicted, those who were accused and put to trial, the judges who were placed on trial, and more.

The book started off discussing an artifact in the Peabody Essex Museum, it was a small wooden chest that was presumed to be made for two Salem residents, Joseph and Bathsheba Pope. The Popes would play a major role in the harshness of the witchcraft that was about to break out as they were later shown to testify against some of the accused witches in the trial. Baker then started to touch on the basics of the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts in 1692. A brief explanation is that it was a period where many young girls (rarely boys or people who were older) began to present extreme and bizarre cases of behavior that was similar to that of seizures, as well as their bodies being full of excruciating pains. After some examination and with the help of a urine cake folk remedy (pg. 15) these girls were able to pinpoint who was bestowing these behaviors and pains among them, the collective list was long to say the least. (Keep in mind that Salem was a VERY small town) The accused were quickly arrested and almost immediately put to trial where they were basically coerced into confessions that not only indicted themselves, but often bringing someone else down with them as well. Accusations from the young girls grew by the day which lead to a good portion of the Salem community at risk. When people think of witches the first image that pops in their head is a gruesome looking weird elderly woman and although they were included in the list of accusers, what made the Salem Witch Trials so interesting and unexpected was that people of importance (including clergy) to the community- consisting of both men and women- were being also being accused. It is said that 20 of the accused were executed, while some others died due to the harsh conditions of the prison. Some were lucky enough to just be convicted and not executed and only a few took the chance of fleeing the Massachusetts area.

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Baker touches base on multiple factors of the Massachusetts Bay Colony around the time prior to the Salem Witch Trials, and he makes many connections on how they could have been related to the torment the witch trials brought. At the time the Bay Colony was facing new charters of government, very fatal wars, a lot of economic issues, and much political and religious conflict – there were so many things wrong at the time it was hard to get a grasp and complete understanding of it all. One thing was clear though, the range of factors that were spoke on set very large target on Salem’s back and made the trials that were to come seem rather inevitable. Baker talked about how the years that the community experienced really cold and dry weather lead to major crop failure which caused economic depression, and how other witch hunts that have happened in other parts of the world came with the same economic stress- so why couldn’t this be a possible reason for the Salem trials as well? Another big factor that baker covered was the extents of wars taking place, which created even more problems because, “To pay for the war the government has increased taxes and been forced to issue paper money, causing rapid inflation and downward spiral in an economy already hit hard by cold weather, drought, and crop failures.” (Pg. 43) The overall stress from the wars were no good for anyone in the area whether it was the veterans, refugees, or the people of Massachusetts- and this is why Baker argued that fear and political issues from the war caused a lot of hesitation as to whether one should feel safe in the land they were in. (Pg. 50) Baker also touched on how the Salem village had trouble keeping their ministers. “In a span of sixteen years three ministers had departed the Salem Village due to factionalism.” (Pg. 83) Following every removal the differences have been aggravated and the community was to endure even more conflict when hiring their fourth minster, Reverend Samuel Parris. Although the other three ministers didn’t do much either, Parris had the worst run as many historians believe that he was the one who “hardened the factions and put them into action, his failures as a businessman and his insecurities, put together with a combative personality assured his failure as a minister.” (Pg. 97) The people of Salem had no form of strong religious guidance, so it makes sense for them to be easy targets of the torments the witches were bestowing.

In the book it was obvious that from the end of the trials and on there was this tension lingering around the community as if the trials were not conducted fairly, almost like the community felt there was a possibility of innocent people being executed and convicted. This was one of my favorite sections of the book because Baker goes on edge when he talks about this topic because it seemed like he believed that the judges who were appointed to the trials were not the best fit for the job. When referring to the judges collectively Baker said, “this seeming coincidence is no coincidence at all, for the judges and their families were allied by their offices, by business connections and land speculation, and by kinship. These ties help explain the behavior of the court.” (Pg. 162) He also brushed over how these judges were a representation of the colonies elite and how they felt like they had something to prove when they were placed on these trials due to their social status. Most of the judges were educated for Puritan ministry but in turn decided to take up more secular careers, so what exactly made them the best option for trials of this extent? Baker was almost certain that the appointed judges were just looking for a person to blame and they somehow found something to place on almost every single accused person that was testified against.

Another thing Baker did that made me even more into the book was relate the events that happened in the 17th century Salem Witch Trials to topics that are prevalent in present day, because it really puts things into perspective for those who do not understand the damage that the Salem Witch Trials left. Baker created a parallel between the behaviors of the young girls in the witch trials to those of the cheerleaders in Le Roy, NY in 2011/2012 who were diagnosed with “conversion disorder” (Pg. 99) which induces people to act out due to psychological trauma or stressful events. Baker says how this disorder in the cheerleaders is similar to the PTSD that could have affected victims of witchcraft who witnessed war. Baker closed the book by saying “..change the word witch to terrorist and we can perhaps better appreciate the complexity of the problem that the people of Salem- not just the judges but the accusers, the afflicted, and even the accused themselves- faced in 1692.” (Pg. 285) Baker gives us the opportunity to switch out the words in order to put emphasis that our world now compared to Salem may not be as different as we would hope- and for me this made me put things into a perspective I’ve never had as well as question how far America has really come as a country.

This book by is a great tool to those looking to learn more about the Salem Witch Trials. Baker covers a wide range of topics from the people who were tormented by the witches, the accused themselves, the judges who were on trial, the different factors that could have influenced the push of the start of the witch trials, all while not sugar coating the darkness and significance of the trials as a whole. Personally, I found the book very interesting but I could see it posing some problems to people who are not interested in the topic of the Salem Witch Trials or history in general. The scholarly level of the book makes it hard to follow at certain times, so with that being said I would assign this to a college history class but maybe to a more advanced course- cause as I said do feel as if the layers of the book can be confusing to some in an entry level course. Baker is a very accomplished and unbiased historian whose talent shined throughout the whole book and I would most definitely consider checking out any other work he has concerning the Salem Witch Trials or any other things he may have that talk about prominent historical events.