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Racial Metamorphasis:
Beginning in the nineteenth century, Tituba began to be described by historians and in literature as either African or of mixed African and Native American descent. This is despite no records of her from Salem describing her as anything other than Native American. She was first represented as having African descent in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1832 play Giles Corey of the Salem Farms where Tituba’s father is described as “an Obi man and taught [her] magic.”1. Longfellow’s interpretation of Tituba quickly gained traction among historians and Tituba was described as “half-Indian, half-Negro” in Geroge Bancroft’s 1876 “Thoroughly Revised Centeneary Edition of the History of the United States.” Tituba would continue to be considered as African, either fully or partially, in many subsequent histories of the Salem Witch Trials. Most prolifically, Tituba was portrayed as a “Negro slave” in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible2. The popularity of The Crucible cemented an African Tituba into American society. Historians have also based their portrayals of Tituba from The Crucible, such as John Demos describing Tituba as “a Negro slave.”3 It is also important to note that much of her racial metamorphosis began during the Civil War, which some modern historians do not believe is a coincidence. Tituba’s retelling in history was infused with many racist stereotypes and with details that are absent from the facts of Salem’s historical records4.

Ethnicity and Confession:
Tituba’s Native American ethnicity likely played a decisive role in her accusation of witchcraft, given many Puritan beliefs on connections between Satan, evil magic, and Native Americans. Many Puritans believed that North America was the home of the devil and thus Native Americans were Satan’s collaborators. Cotton Mather called Native Americans Satan’s “most devoted and resembling children” a few years before Tituba’s accusation5. After being accused, her testimony and eventual confession were believed in part to her increased credibility due to Native American culture being associated with Satan and evil magic6 Arthur Miller, and other authors and historians, took her confession literally and viewed her as a passive victim and minor character in the witch trials. instead of considering the effect of her confession and the role that race and ideology could have played in it. In her confession, Tituba did much more than just admit to witchcraft; she convinced the Salem authorities that the devil was already widespread in the town and turned her accusation into a full-blown witch hunt, deflecting the blame from herself. Many historians believe that she was using her knowledge of English, Native American, and African beliefs to manipulate the Puritans’ fears of the devil and guarantee her survival7.

Bibliography:
1.Hansen, Chadwick. “The Metamorphosis of Tituba, or Why American Intellectuals Can’t Tell an Indian Witch from a Negro.” The New England Quarterly 47, no. 1 (1974): 6. https://doi.org/10.2307/364324.

2.Hansen, Chadwick. “The Metamorphosis of Tituba, or Why American Intellectuals Can’t Tell an Indian Witch from a Negro.” The New England Quarterly 47, no. 1 (1974): 10. https://doi.org/10.2307/364324.

3.Hansen, Chadwick. “The Metamorphosis of Tituba, or Why American Intellectuals Can’t Tell an Indian Witch from a Negro.” The New England Quarterly 47, no. 1 (1974): 11. https://doi.org/10.2307/364324.

4.Curley, Sarah. "Tituba of Salem: The Racial, Gendered, and Encultured Dimensions of a Confessed Witch." PhD diss., 2014. (pg. 20) https://minds.wisconsin.edu/bitstream/handle/1793/69451/CurleySpring2014.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y

5.Pomeroy, Frank. "The Colors of Witchcraft: Ideas of Race in the Puritan Theory of Witchcraft." (2016). (Pg. 29) https://digital.library.txstate.edu/bitstream/handle/10877/6137/PomeroyFrank.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

6.Breslaw, Elaine G. Tituba, reluctant witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan fantasies. Vol. 19. NYU Press, 1995. (pg. 356)

7.Breslaw, Elaine G. Tituba, reluctant witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan fantasies. Vol. 19. NYU Press, 1995. (Pg. 540-541)

Mary Beth Norton's In the Devil's Snare
Witchcraft has been a major part of the history of the Western world. Many interpretations of the events occurring in Salem have been discussed, researched, and reflected on yet there is no one universally accepted cause and explanation of the event. Many theories on the causes of the hysteria have been made from ergot poisoning to actual witchcraft.1 Salem has been used throughout American history as a warning sign against the absurd actions of the famed witch trials. Across the centuries there has been many historical, social, and literary interpretations of the drama which has led to no one all-encompassing explanation of the events that happened in Salem.1 In the Devil’s Snare by Mary Beth Norton discusses the cultural, legal, and religious aspects of the famed witchcraft trials in Salem, Massachusetts, 1692.2 Mary Beth Norton holds an American History Ph.D. from Harvard University and has multiple historically significant published books.3 In the Devil’s Snare presents Norton’s hypothesis of the causation of the witchcraft crisis in Salem. Norton theorises that the crisis was an extension of the heightened tensions between the colonists of New England and the local Native Americans, the Wabanaki.2 While the original relationship between these cultures was peaceful, the First Indian War also known as King Phillip’s War, ravaged the New England area and strained this relationship.4 The New Englander’s attempted to expand westward and take over Native lands which lead to the Wabanaki holding hit-and-run raids against the colonists. Norton observes that during these wars Wabanaki Indians inflicted massive violence on the New England colonists by destroying their homes and other property.5 There was a brief “half-peace” between the two groups, but soon the Second Indian War or King William’s War sent the groups against each other again.2 In Mary Beth Norton’s In the Devil’s Snare, she describes the clashing of these cultures as the spark of the cause of the witchcraft crisis of the 1690’s. In her book, Norton explores beyond the scope of the small village of Salem and includes a study of the surrounding County of Essex. By doing so, Norton had means to research and understand the forces in Salem that were not present in other surrounding areas which caused the intense concentration of witchcraft accusations, convictions, and deaths.2 Norton equally points out that the town leaders and magistrates that presided over the trials were also leaders of the colony’s government and military. Norton theorises that the magistrate’s failure to control the crisis of the war against the Wabanaki, forced them to reaffirm their power through control of the new crisis of witchcraft.5 Norton provides an interesting theory to the well-researched study of the Salem Witch Trials. Her research and unique perspective that the influence of tensions between the colonists and Native American’s was the initial cause of the widespread hysteria in Salem is well supported through extensive research.

Bibliography:
1.Purdy, Sean. “ Conjuring History: The many interpretations of the Salem Witchcraft Trials.” Rivier Academic Journal 3, no. 1 (2007). https://www2.rivier.edu/journal/rcoaj-spring-2007/j90-purdy-salem-trials.pdf

2. Norton, Mary Beth ."In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692," The Histories: Vol. 5 : Iss. 1, Article 7, (2019). Available at: https://digitalcommons.lasalle.edu/the_histories/vol5/iss1/7

3. Romney, Susanah Shaw and Warsh A. Molly. “Mary Beth Norton Biography.” American Historical Association, 2018. https://www.historians.org/about-aha-and-membership/aha-history-and-archives/presidential-addresses/mary-beth-norton/mary-beth-norton-biography

4. Warren, J. W.. "King Philip’s War." Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed September 20, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/event/King-Philips-War.

5. Salisbury, Neal. “In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692. By Mary Beth Norton.” Journal of American History 91, no. 1 (2004): 201–202.

Women in Puritan Society
In Puritan societies, women were expected to complete house tasks, to obey and love their husbands. Whatever their actions were, they were extensions of their husband. Therefore, the expectations were high upon women activities[1]. This rigidness takes its roots in the Bible, Eve’s role in the original sin expresses women weakness and how they are susceptible to temptation[2]. Fear may be the main reason for the need of female subordination. The Puritan doctrine states that the human soul is feminine and like women it’s insatiable and unappeasable. Thus the human soul is constantly seduced by Satan and tempted to sin. Nevertheless, male body is designed by God to be stronger than female body. Therefore they have been provided with tougher attributes to fight against temptation. On the other hand, women have been granted a weaker body with a vulnerable soul, and are consequently easier targets for Satan. As such, they are intimately associated with potential acts of evil, which puritan’s perceive as Eve’s legacy[3]. Women in Puritan society fulfilled a wide variety of roles. Women acted as mothers, producing and guiding the subsequent era of Puritan children, as farm hands, tending their vegetable gardens; and as wives, accountable for caring for their husbands. In addition, even though their felony rights have been limited, some Puritan female have been capable to emerge as the breadwinners of their households via the sale of items they produced or animals they raised[4]. The most necessary position for a Puritan female was once that of the mother. Although the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony had been universal very healthy, toddler mortality fees in the time length have been nonetheless excessive via contemporary standards, and childbirth was once an unsafe affair for women. In Puritan New England, any female having over 5 youth confronted a one in eight threat of death in childbirth[5]. Despite the dangers of pregnancy, the high rates of infant mortality and the lack of birth control, the Puritan quest towards a “perfect model society” drove women to continually have children. The status of women laws emanated from the British legal system, which was in force before the American Revolution and which survived it for a long time[6]. Husbands had the right to exercise a very extensive arbitrary power over the body and property of their wives, deciding for example whether, and to whom, the child would be placed in learning, even against the mother’s will. For much of American history, these laws have been underpinned by cultural beliefs about women’s nature and abilities and have in turn contributed to reinforcing these stereotypes. Many men, if not a majority of them, had an interest in preserving a system that was favorable to them, while some women who had been fortunate enough not to suffer the most severe constraints defended it because it was the world they had always known[7].

Bibliography:
1. Petry, Ann. Tituba of Salem Village. Open Road Media, 2015.

2. Curley, Sarah. "Tituba of Salem: The Racial, Gendered, and Encultured Dimensions of a Confessed Witch." PhD diss., 2014. (pg. 20) https://minds.wisconsin.edu/bitstream/handle/1793/69451/CurleySpring2014.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y

3. Petry, Ann. Tituba of Salem Village. Open Road Media, 2015.

4. History of American Women. “Puritan Women’s Rights,” October 16, 2007 https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2007/10/puritan-women.html.

5. History of American Women. “Puritan Women’s Rights,” October 16, 2007 https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2007/10/puritan-women.html.

6. Westerkamp, Marilyn J. The Passion of Anne Hutchinson. Oxford University Press, 2021.

7. Westerkamp, Marilyn J. The Passion of Anne Hutchinson. Oxford University Press, 2021.