4 Comments
Apr 7, 2022Liked by Todd Lincoln

Fascinating! I think your plan would work! I’d also tell Governor Phipps that his own wife will be accused. I just watched an old pbs series, “Three Sovereigns for Sister Sarah.” It implies at the end that there was an imaginary line that sliced through the town — on one side were the accusers, and the other, the accused. It also implies strongly that there was a lot of revenge going on.

I did some research and stumbled onto your site. What a great lesson plan for school. I liked how you presented it. OMG talk about fear when you show up! My own opinion is that the original girls did it on purpose. The dabbling In the occult started it. Maybe they initially used it as an excuse to get out of trouble. Indeed, I think when they saw the power they had, they continued and others got caught up In it — mass hysteria. When the fire and brimstone Rev Parris was told by the uneducated doctor it was witchcraft, he may have believed it but after awhile he used it to increase his own power, working with the Putnams who appointed him. The Putnams had many enemies, and wanted some land owned by the 3 sisters in the film I watched. The sisters had one more year of renting until the land was theirs, and the Putnams wanted it. All 3 sisters were accused, 2 of them hanged.

The Putnams and Rev Parris each made over 40 accusations — way more than anyone else. Parris was a bit of a loser, and all his business attempts failed. He wanted a large salary and for the parsonage to be titled to him. Half the town didn’t want him. The Putnams wanted badly to be free of Salem Towne and made into an independent village. They had lost a lot of of their power and wanted it back. The Portmans and their allies wanted to stay with Salem Towne because of business opportunities. There was so much conflict in that village! What got me was when they accused their old Reverend, Barrows who lived in a different state! That had to be a revenge plan.

Thanks for the delightful article and I may use your exercise as a class project in school. It’s really for me thinking!

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Thank you so much, Lynne! I'm glad you enjoyed the article and your additional details are fascinating.

I completely agree: Across the entire strange episode, we can see the unmistakable fingerprints of human greed, fear, and pride. It was an incredibly stressful time, and people saw a way to advance their interests with few repercussions and little risk. I'm sure that formula has played out many times in human history.

I hope you use the exercise as a class project! If you do, please let me know how it goes. Good luck!

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Oct 25, 2020Liked by Todd Lincoln

I can relate, when do I start ?

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Glad you liked the article! Thanks for commenting :)

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