e forces. Although somewhat educated, they attribute any discrepancies as the Devil’s work. More often than not, the victims were women and the suspects were women, raving the possibility that witchery and accusations of witchery were the way the struggling Puritans coped with their situation. This in not to say the belief in witches came about during this time. The belief in witches was widespread long before the witch trials. In fact, the government recognized its presence by making “malefician” (bad magic) a felony. Witches were said to have certain meeting places, which were never actually seen, in which they held secret meetings and unholy rituals.Although no one ever saw a real witch gathering, this superstition was a mainstream belief. No one, especially “outsider” women, were safe from accusations of witchery. Even the minister’s slave Tituba was accused after she used “witchcakes” to help heal Betty’s bizarre ailments. The villagers first accepted her African white magic until Betty grew worse.Hoffer’s book was a complete and unbiased account of the Salem witch trials. It provides the reader with an extensive background of all major characters before they lived in Salem Town. This helps the reader set apart Parris and his family and take a look at the rest of the Puritan village as a whole. Through this book I have changed my opinion of many early American settlers. The Puritans ruthlessness and hypocrisy can be read in The Devil’s Disciples. The book doesn’t try to force negative ideas into the reader’s head, only the facts. ...
