m the city center and wished to set up their own parish. Both Salem Town and some Salem Villagers still attended the same church, but either side was somewhat hesitant to converse with the other one. These Villagers were considered outcasts and later became many of the targets in the witch trials.Another topic of discussion was how the villages economical status was one of the causes of the witch trials; namely, that the appearance of witches coincided primarily with those areas in which property conflicts had arisen. One example of such a case is the feud between the Porters and the Putnams. While the Putnams feel that the Porters are crowding them out, they are unable to confront the Porters directly, as the Porters are a somewhat prominent family around the area. Rather, many people connected with the Porter clan are targeted in 1692, as many in-laws and friends of the family are arrested and hanged.The main point that Boyer and Nissenbaum are trying to make is that many of Salems problems take root in the economic revolution that New England in its entirety was making in moving towards becoming a mercantilistic society. Salem Town in itself became a major target, simply because it was slowly but surely transforming into a prosperous urban center. The witch trials, then, were the perfect opportunity for the Villagers to get rid of the outsiders who they felt were methodically pushing them farther and farther down the social ladder. Keeping this in mind, it is no shock that many of those that were in various stages of prosperity were also those that were accused of witchcraft. Prior to reading Salem Possessed, my only real knowledge of the Salem witch trials came from Arthur Millers aforementioned play, The Crucible. To be truly honest, I wish I had kept it as such. While The Crucible was a work of fiction, not to mention that it was, among other things, a mirror of current happenings at ...
