Salem Town
by Oscar Gordillo
The people of Salem Village were mostly poor farmers who made their living cultivating crops in the rocky terrain. Salem Town, on the other hand, was a prosperous port town at the center of trade with London. Most of those living in Salem Town were wealthy merchants. In the years leading up to the Salem witch trials the economies of the Salem village and town were very different. While the economy of the Salem town was flourishing because of the business merchants were conducting, the economy of the Salem village was not able to grow as rapidly. In their article Salem Possessed by Boyer and Nissenbaum they suggested that the poorer farming householders who lived on the western side of Salem (Salem village) set their hearts and fears against their more prosperous and commercially minded neighbors (SalemTown) who lived in the eastern part of the village, nearer the town, and economically benefited from it. This eventually led to conflict between the two groups.
Economy played a big role in the Salem witch trials, it was the reason Salem was split in two and played a big role on who would be accused of witchcraft. By 1690 most of the wealth of Salem was controlled by the town causing the poorer farming householders to grow jealous and resent the merchants in the town. According to Boyer most of the accusations came from the most western part of the Salem Village, who were the farthest from the Salem Town, and directed to people who had any types of connections to the Town. The accusers and accused lived miles apart and had little to if any contact with each other on a daily bases but the accused were known for their wealth which made them targets of the “witch hunt”. Once the witch hunt came to full wing it was not uncommon to accuse someone to either grow economically or to settle a personal problem. Even though some accusations were to settle personal problem most of them were directed at the people in Salem town in order to acquire the land of the accused.
With the majority of the accused being people living either near or in Salem town it is not hard to see that the economy had an outstanding influence in the reason for the Salem witch trials. It started with the jealousy of the village over the wealth of the town and it was that economic difference that eventually divided Salem geographically into two conflicting groups, the Salem town and the Salem village.
Economy played a big role in the Salem witch trials, it was the reason Salem was split in two and played a big role on who would be accused of witchcraft. By 1690 most of the wealth of Salem was controlled by the town causing the poorer farming householders to grow jealous and resent the merchants in the town. According to Boyer most of the accusations came from the most western part of the Salem Village, who were the farthest from the Salem Town, and directed to people who had any types of connections to the Town. The accusers and accused lived miles apart and had little to if any contact with each other on a daily bases but the accused were known for their wealth which made them targets of the “witch hunt”. Once the witch hunt came to full wing it was not uncommon to accuse someone to either grow economically or to settle a personal problem. Even though some accusations were to settle personal problem most of them were directed at the people in Salem town in order to acquire the land of the accused.
With the majority of the accused being people living either near or in Salem town it is not hard to see that the economy had an outstanding influence in the reason for the Salem witch trials. It started with the jealousy of the village over the wealth of the town and it was that economic difference that eventually divided Salem geographically into two conflicting groups, the Salem town and the Salem village.
Works Cited
Boyer, Paul, and Stephen Nissenbaum. ""Salem Possessed" in Retrospect." The William and Mary Quarterly 65.3 (2008): 503-34. Print.
Burns, Margo, and Bernard Rosenthal. "Examination of the Records of the Salem Witch Trials." The William and Mary Quarterly 65.3 (2008): 401-22. Print.
Mixon, Franklin G.,Jr. ""Homo Economicus" and the Salem Witch Trials." The Journal of Economic Education 31.2 (2000): 179-84. Print.
Ray, Benjamin C. "The Geography of Witchcraft Accusations in 1692 Salem Village." The William and Mary Quarterly 65.3 (2008): 449-78. Print.
Burns, Margo, and Bernard Rosenthal. "Examination of the Records of the Salem Witch Trials." The William and Mary Quarterly 65.3 (2008): 401-22. Print.
Mixon, Franklin G.,Jr. ""Homo Economicus" and the Salem Witch Trials." The Journal of Economic Education 31.2 (2000): 179-84. Print.
Ray, Benjamin C. "The Geography of Witchcraft Accusations in 1692 Salem Village." The William and Mary Quarterly 65.3 (2008): 449-78. Print.