The Long and Short of Salem Witchcraft: Chronology and

Collective Violence in 1692

Author: Richard Latner
Journal of Social History Vol. 42 No. 1 11-1-15

Kylie Welker
History 1483
Tuesday Thursday 9:00
November 17, 2015

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 is one of the biggest witch hunts in the colonial era. This
journal article review will look into a piece by Richard Latner titled The Long and Short of
Salem Witchcraft: Chronology and Collective Violence in 1692. Specifically examples of the

convicted in the witch hunt in Salem, Massachusetts, who was being targeted and potentially
how it may have ended. To this day, historians still are not quite sure how the hysteria began,
although some possibilities include group conflict, religious tension gender concernsand
frontier Indian clashes (Latner 137). David Kennedy and Lizabeth Cohen of The American
Pageant agrees with Latner as far as religious issues and gender concerns go (Kennedy 73).
Throughout the period of the witch hunt nineteen people were hanged and one hundred
fifty-six imprisoned, generally of those were young women. Not all of these accusations were
specifically in Salem, but surrounding communities in New England. It is hard for scholars to
know exactly when and how certain accusations occurred because many legal documents do not
exist (Latner 139). Despite the fact that the earliest documented conviction was against Martha
Corey on March nineteenth (Latner 140), the first known outbreak was in February 1692 with
three complaints involving Salem residents. After this, accusations began flooding into the
system. By the end of May of the same year sixty-nine people were charged with witchcraft
(Latner 139).
Latner does not specifically go into detail as to what the convicted witches were
practicing. He does take note that many of the accusations were against logical targets of
whom may have had disputes with neighbors. Also, many of these people were relatives and
friends with prior accused witches. An example of this would consist of Martha Emerson who
was accused of witchcraft in July of 1692 while her father Roger Toothaker was convicted just
two months earlier in May (Latner 146).
Elaine Breslaw, author of Titubas Confession: The Multicultural Dimensions of the
1692 Salem Witch-Hunt goes into a little bit more detail of what exactly one may have done to
be accused of witchcraft. Brewslaw specifically examines and Indian slave named Tituba who

was owned by Reverend Paris. Tituba is supposedly the first to confess to practicing witchcraft
while most others pleaded innocent. In late 1691 and early 1692 Reverend Pariss daughters
Betty and Abigail had begun to complain of painful pinching and falling into tantrums. Paris took
his daughters to a doctor who diagnosed the two to have been under a witches spell (Breslaw
538). This is most likely due to the lack of medical knowledge back in the colonial era and also
shows that illness may be a factor in the witch hunt epidemic. People were ignorant to disease
and other illnesses in which witchcraft tended to be an answer to many problems. Paris knew
Titubas act in witchcraft and at first didnt accuse her, but instead sought for her help. Under
Pariss supervision Tituba prepared a witchcake consisting of rye and the girls urine baked in
ashes, and fed it to the dog (Breslaw 538). This was supposedly assumed to provide protection
against witchcraft. After this didnt work for Betty and Abigail, Tituba was convicted of
witchcraft in Februrary 1692.
Looking farther into convictions Benjamin Ray of Salem Witch Trials explains an
examination on Bridget Bishop. Bishops examination took place in April 1692. Many of her
accusers attended. As soon as Bridget Bishop entered the courtroom, the afflicted girls fell into
fits (Ray 33). Bishop claimed her innocence regardless of her accusers actions. The girls
proclaimed that she worships the devil and wished the devil upon them. In the colonial era, the
devil was the main symbol of witchcraft. Besides the accusations from the girls of Bishop
practicing witchcraft it was said that she had possibly murdered her first husband and children.
The judge seemed to have plenty of evidence to prove her guilty. Ray states Our cultural
stereotype of the witch is a disagreeable looking social outcast (Ray 35). This in turn can be
related to Latners idea of a witch as someone who is a logical target for society.

The end of the Salem Witch Trials seemed to come abruptly. According to Latner, The
outbreak moved rapidly through communities; once it left it did not return. (Latner 148). Latner
sees the accusations of witchcrafts in waves. The first wave starting in Salem, Massachusetts
in February of 1692 until about May. Then the second flare up from June to September and
completely tapering off. Latner says this is because in the second wave new communities were
involved and there were fewer of them. (Latner 143). He is saying that the times where
communities all of a sudden have a witch hunt epidemic is short-lived. Accusations flew in and
the completely died down with no interest in rekindling the idea. A surprising factor Latner
doesnt add is any specific detail (besides it being a brief break out of hysteria) as to why the
epidemic may have ended. Kennedy states that the hysteria may have ended in 1693 when the
governor was alarmed by an accusation against his own wife, prohibited any further trials, and
released those convicted of witchcraft (Kennedy 73).
While The Long and Short of Salem Witchcraft: Chronology and Collective Violence in
1692 may be a credible piece it seems to be missing certain details that could pull it together
and give a more clear look into the witchcraft epidemic. It has a great overview as to names of
people convicted and where conviction took place and a timeline of the accusation. Latner seems
to lacks insight as to why those people were convicted and what an examination of the convicted
looked like since even in his title he mentions the violence that took place in Salem in 1692. If he
added more detail to these accusations one could get a clearer picture to his viewpoints.
Surprisingly enough, he never seemed to mention Tituba, the first to confess practicing
witchcraft. She seems to have played a decent role in the Salem Witch Trials. Even though it is
said that the end of the Salem Witch Trials isnt exactly known, Latner gives a decent reason as
to why the epidemic may have ended suddenly. He says it was a short lived outburst with two

distinct phases and nothing more than that, although there is more than likely a few underlying
reasons as to why is ended like it did. Kennedys idea about the governors wife being accused of
witchcraft was a good look into one possibility that Latner could have added to his piece. It
seems there are a few crucial pieces missing from Latners piece that could have brought the
Salem Witch Trials all together. Other than those few ideas Latners journal article was very
informative.

WORKS CITED

Breslaw, Elaine G. (1997, Summer). Titubas Confession: The Multicultural Dimensions of the
1692 Salem Witch-Hunt. Ethnohistory. Vol. 44 No. 3 pp. 535-556
Gibson, Marion. (2006). Retelling Salem stories: Gender politics and witches the American
Culture. European Journal of American Culture. Vol. 25 No 2 pp. 85-107
Kennedy, D., & Cohen, L. (2016). American Life in the Seventeenth Century. In The American
Pagaent. Vol. 1 No. 16. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Latner, Richard. (2008, Fall). The Long and Short of Salem Witchcraft: Chronology and
Collective Violence in 1692. Journal of Social History. Vol. 42 No. 1 pp 137-156
Ray, Benjamin. (2003, July). Salem Witch Trials. OAH Magazine of History. Vol. 17 No. 4pp.
32-36