American Life in the Seventeenth Century – Chapter 4 Guided Review
Chapter Synopsis: As the seventeenth century wore on, the crude encampments of the first colonists slowly gave way to permanent settlements. Durable and distinctive ways of life emerged, as Europeans and Africans adapted to the New World, and as Native Americans adapted to the newcomers. Even the rigid doctrines of Puritanism softened somewhat in response to the circumstances of life in America. And though all the colonies remained tied to England, and all were stitched tightly into the fabric of an Atlantic economy, regional differences continued to crystallize, notably the increasing importance of slave labor to the southern way of life.
Please provide TWO key points that can be drawn from the chapter synopsis.
KEY POINT #1KEY POINT #2
IDENTIFICATIONS:
Define each term in using context from the reading.
William Berkeley
Headright system
Indentured servants
Stono Rebellion (1739)
Bacon’s Rebellion (1676)
Leisler’s Rebellion (1689-91)
Halfway Covenant (1662)
GUIDED READING QUESTIONS:
As you read each section, focus in on the specific information you should know. Use that information to answer the question.
The Unhealthy Chesapeake
"Life in the American wilderness was nasty, brutish, and short for the earliest Chesapeake settlers." Explain.
The Tobacco Economy
Know: Tobacco, Indentured Servants, Freedom Dues, Headright System
What conditions in Virginia made the colony right for the importation of indentured servants?
Frustrated Freemen and Bacon's Rebellion
Know: William Berkeley, Nathaniel Bacon
Who is most to blame for Bacon's rebellion, the upper class or the lower class? Explain.
Colonial Slavery
Know: Royal African Company, Middle Passage, Slave Codes, Chattel Slavery
Describe the slave trade.
Africans in America
Know: Gullah, Stono Rebellion
Describe slave culture and contributions.
Southern Society
Know: Plantations, Yeoman Farmers
Describe southern culture in the colonial period, noting social classes.
The New England Family
Know: The Scarlet Letter
What was it like to be a woman in New England?
Life in the New England Towns
Know: Harvard, Town Meetings
Explain the significance of New England towns to the culture there.
The Half-Way Covenant and the Salem Witch Trial
Know: Jeremiad, Conversions, Half-Way Covenant
What evidence shows that New England was becoming more diverse as the 17th century wore on?
The New England Way of Life
Know: Yankee Ingenuity
How did the environment shape the culture of New England?
The Early Settlers' Days and Ways
Know: Leisler's Rebellion
How much equality was evident in the colonies?
Podcast Notes: Talking History – The Salem Witch Trials
Link for the audio file is posted on the Cleveland website
HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Who was involved? What ideas, events, or people are emphasized? What are the CAUSES of the events or topics being discussed? What are the CONSEQUENCES of the events or topic being discussed?
Write a question that can be answered using the note to the right. Make sure the question is lined up directly to the left of the note.
/Take notes on this side of the page.
Skip a line or leave a clear indication of space.
Summary:
The Salem Witch Trials
What caused the Salem Witch Crisis of 1692?
Salem Witch Crisis: Summary
The Salem witchcraft crisis began during the winter of 1691-1692, in Salem Village, Massachusetts, when Betty Parris, the nine year-old daughter of the village’s minister, Samuel Parris, and his niece, Abigail Williams, fell strangely ill.
The girls complained of pinching, prickling sensations, knifelike pains, and the feeling of being choked. In the weeks that followed, three more girls showed similar symptoms.
Reverend Parris and several doctors began to suspect that witchcraft was responsible for the girls’ behavior. They pressed the girls to name the witches who were tormenting them. The girls named three women, who were then arrested. The third accused was Parris’s Indian slave, Tituba. Under examination, Tituba confessed to being a witch, and testified that four women and a man were causing the girls’ illness.
The girls continued to accuse people of witchcraft, including some respectable church members. The new accused witches joined Tituba and the other two women in jail.
The accused faced a difficult situation. If they confessed to witchcraft, they could escape death but would have to provide details of their crimes and the names of other participants. On the other hand, it was very difficult to prove one’s innocence.
The Puritans believed that witches knew magic and could send spirits to torture people. However, the visions of torture could only be seen by the victims. The afflicted girls and women were often kept in the courtroom as evidence while the accused were examined. If they screamed and claimed that the accused witch was torturing them, the judge
would have to believe their visions, even if the accused witch was not doing anything
visible to the girls.
Between June and October, twenty people were convicted of witchcraft and
killed and more than a hundred suspected witches remained in jail.
Salem Witch Trials - Document A: “Discourse on Witchcraft” (ORIGINAL)
In the speech below, Cotten Mather, an influential leader of the Puritans, argues for the existence of witchcraft (1688).
It should next be proved THAT Witchcraft is.
The being of such a thing is denied by many that place a great part of their small wit in deriding the stories that are told of it. Their chief argument is that they never saw any witches, therefore there are none. Just as if you or I should say, we never met with any robbers on the road, therefore there never was any padding there. . . .
[T]here are especially two demonstrations that evince the being of that infernal mysterious thing. First. We have the testimony of scripture for it. Secondly. We have the testimony of experience for it. . . . Many witches have . . . confessed and shown their deeds. We see those things done that it is impossible any disease or any deceit should procure.
Source: Cotton Mather, “Memorable Providences relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions,” from A Discourse on Witchcraft, (Boston, 1689), pp. 4-9. Cotton Mather was one of the most influential religious leaders in America at the time.
- What type of evidence is represented in this document?
- According this document why the people of Salem believe the girls’ accusations?
Salem Witch Trials - Document B: Testimony of Abigail Hobbs (ORIGINAL)
Below is the testimony of a teenager accused of witchcraft, Abigail Hobbs, on April 19, 1692.
The Examination of Abigail Hobbs , at Salem Village, 19 April, 1692, by John Hawthorn and Jonath. Corwin ,Esqs., and Assistants.
[Judge:] Abig. Hobbs, you are brought before Authority to answer to sundry acts of witchcraft, committed by you against and upon the bodies of many, of which several persons now accuse you. What say you? Are you guilty, or not? Speak the truth.
[Abigail Hobbs:] I will speak the truth. I have seen sights and been scared. I have been very wicked. I hope I shall be better, if God will help me.
[Judge:] What sights did you see?
[Abigail Hobbs:] I have seen dogs and many creatures.
[Judge:] What dogs do you mean, ordinary dogs?
[Abigail Hobbs:] I mean the Devil.
[Judge:] How often, many times?
[Abigail Hobbs:]But once.
[Judge:] What would he have you do?
[Abigail Hobbs:] Why, he would have me be a witch.
[Judge:] Would he have you make a covenant with him?
[Abigail Hobbs:] Yes.
- What type of evidence is represented in this document?
- According this document why the people of Salem believe the girls’ accusations?
Salem Witch Trials - Document C
- What type of evidence is represented in this document?
- What year did the Salem Witch Trials occur? Place a X on the timeline to mark that spot.
- According to this document, what was happening economically in Salem in 1692?
The map below depicts Salem Village (on the left/west) and Salem Town (on the right/east). Most people in Salem Village were farmers, whereas most people in Salem Town were merchants and townspeople. The residents of Salem Village had to pay taxes to Salem Town. The map shows that most of the people who made accusations were from Salem Village.
- What type of evidence is represented in this document?
- According to this document, what was happening economically in Salem in 1692?
Using information from all 4 pieces of evidence, write a paragraph in the space below that best answers the question: What caused the Salem Witch Trials of 1692?