History of the United States

by John Clark Ridpath

18. But Parris had a quarrel in his church. A part of the congregation disbelieved in witchcraft, while Parris and the rest thought such disbelief the height of wickedness. The celebrated Cotton Mather, minister of Boston, had recently preached much on the subject of witchcraft, teaching that witches were dangerous and ought to be put to death. Sir William Phipps, the royal governor, was a member of Mather's church.

19. By the laws of England and of Massachusetts, witchcraft was punishable with death. In the early history of the colony, one person charged with being a wizard had been arrested at Charlestown, convicted and executed. But many people had now grown bold enough to denounce the baleful superstition; and something had to be done to save witchcraft from falling into contempt. A special court was accordingly appointed by Phipps to go to Salem and judge the persons accused.

A Suspected Witch.

20. On the 21st of March the proceedings began. Mary Cory was arrested, brought before the court, convicted, and hurried to prison. Sarah Cloyce and Rebecca Nurse, two innocent sisters, were next apprehended as witches. The only witnesses against them were the foolish Indian woman and the niece of Parris. The victims were sent to prison, protesting their innocence. And so the work went on, until seventy-five innocent people were locked up in dungeons. In hope of saving their lives, some of the prisoners confessed themselves witches. It was soon found that those were to be put to death who denied the reality of witchcraft. Five women were hanged in one day.

21. Between June and September, twenty victims were hurried to their doom. Fifty-five others were tortured into the confession of falsehoods. A hundred and fifty lay in prison awaiting their fate. Two hundred were accused or suspected, and ruin seemed to impend over New England. But a reaction at last set in among the people. The court which Phipps had appointed to sit at Salem was dismissed. The prisons were opened, and the victims of superstition went forth free. In the beginning of the next year, a few persons were arrested and tried for witchcraft. Some were even convicted; but not another life was sacrificed.

22. Most of those who participated in these terrible scenes confessed the wrong which they had done; but confessions could not restore the dead. Mather, in a vain attempt to justify himself, wrote a book in which he expressed his thankfulness that so many witches had met their just doom; and the hypocritical pamphlet received the approbation of the president of Harvard College.

Queen Anne's War.

23. In less than four years after the treaty of Ryswick, France and England were again involved in a war which soon extended to the American colonies. In the year 1700 Charles II., king of Spain, died, having named as his successor Philip of Anjou, a grandson of Louis XIV. This measure pointed to a union of the crowns of France and Spain. The jealousy of England, Holland, and Austria was aroused; the archduke Charles, of the latter country, was put forward as a candidate for the Spanish throne; and war was declared against Louis XIV. for supporting Philip.

24. In 1701 James II., the exiled king of Great Britain, died at the court of Louis, who now recognized the son of James as sovereign of England. This action was regarded as an insult to English nationality. King William prepared for war, but did not live to carry out his plans. In May of 1702 he died, leaving the crown to his sister-in-law, Anne, daughter of James II. From the fact of her sovereignty, the conflict with France is known in American history as Queen Anne's War; but a better name is the War of the Spanish Succession. This continued feebly through eleven years, and with many of the horrors incident to Indian warfare, as the Indians were leagued with the French against the English.