Six Women of Salem : The Untold Story of the Accused and Their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials

The story of the Salem Witch Trials told through the lives of six women Six Women of Salem is the first work to use the lives of a select number of representative women as a microcosm to illuminate the larger crisis of the Salem witch trials. By the end of the trials, beyond the twenty who were executed and the five who perished in prison, 207 individuals had been accused, 74 had been "afflicted," 32 had officially accused their fellow neighbors, and 255 ordinary people had been inexorably drawn into that ruinous and murderous vortex, and this doesn't include the religious, judicial, and governmental leaders. All this adds up to what the Rev. Cotton Mather called "a desolation of names." The individuals involved are too often reduced to stock characters and stereotypes when accuracy is sacrificed to indignation. And although the flood of names and detail in the history of an extraordinary event like the Salem witch trials can swamp the individual lives involved, individuals still deserve to be remembered and, in remembering specific lives, modern readers can benefit from such historical intimacy. By examining the lives of six specific women, Marilynne Roach shows readers what it was like to be present throughout this horrific time and how it was impossible to live through it unchanged.Tags: History | American History | Biography | Witchcraft | Witches | Salem | Witch-Trials | True Crime | Religion | Nonfiction | What Was It Like To Be There And, If You Were Lucky, To Live Through It? In A Compelling Combination Of Narrative And Groundbreaking Historical Research, Salem Witch Trial Scholar Marilynne K. Roach Vividly Brings The Terrifying Times To Life While Skillfully Illuminating The Lives Of The Accused, The Accusers, And The Afflicted.--p. [4] Of Cover. Introductions. Rebecca Nurse ; Bridget Bishop ; Mary English ; Ann Putnam Sr. ; Tituba ; Mary Warren -- January 1692 -- February 1692 -- March 1 To Mid-march 1692 -- March 18 To March 31, 1692 -- April 1 To 19, 1692 -- April 19 To 30, 1692 -- May 1 To 12, 1692 -- May 12 To 30 1692 -- June 1 To 9, 1692 -- June 10 To 30, 1692 -- July 1 To 18, 1692 -- July 19 To 31, 1692 -- August 1 To 11, 1692 -- August 12 To 31, 1692 -- September 1692 -- October 1692 -- November To December 1692 -- January To May 1693 -- Afterword. Rebecca Nurse ; Bridget Bishop ; Mary English ; Ann Putnam Sr. ; Tituba ; Mary Warren. Marilynne K. Roach. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 425-434) And Index. Six Women of Salem is the first work to use the lives of a select number of representative women as a microcosm to illuminate the larger crisis of the Salem witch trials. By the end of the trials, beyond the twenty who were executed and the five who perished in prison, 207 individuals had been accused, 74 had been “afflicted,” 32 had officially accused their fellow neighbors, and 255 ordinary people had been inexorably drawn into that ruinous and murderous vortex, and this doesn’t include the religious, judicial, and governmental leaders. All this adds up to what the Rev. Cotton Mather called “a desolation of names.” The individuals involved are too often reduced to stock characters and stereotypes when accuracy is sacrificed to indignation. And although the flood of names and detail in the history of an extraordinary event like the Salem witch trials can swamp the individual lives involved, individuals still deserve to be remembered and,... The Untold Story of the Salem Witch Trials "What was it like to be there and, if you were lucky, to live through it? In a compelling combination of narrative and groundbreaking historical research, Salem Witch Trial scholar Marilynne K. Roach vividly brings the terrifying times to life while skillfully illuminating the lives of the accused, the accusers, and the afflicted"--Provided by publisher. What was it like to be there and, if you were lucky, to live through it? In a this combination of narrative and historical research, the author, a Salem Witch Trial scholar brings the terrifying times to life while illuminating the lives of the accused, the accusers, and the afflicted.-- Back cover A narrative that allows readers to experience the history of the Salem witch trials through the eyes of those who lived it