A Storm of Witchcraft by Emerson W. Baker

It is said that 20 of the accused were executed, while some others died due to the harsh conditions of the prison. 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. Accusations from the young girls grew by the day which lead to a good portion of the Salem community at risk. (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.

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. After some examination and with the help of a urine cake folk remedy (pg. 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. Baker then started to touch on the basics of the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts in 1692. 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.

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. 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.

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 is a complete and detailed analysis of the Salem Witch Trials that took place in 1692. A Storm of Witchcraft written by Emerson W.

A Storm of Witchcraft by Emerson W. Baker