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Margaret Jones (1613 – June 15, 1648) was the first person to be executed for witchcraft in Massachusetts Bay Colony, [1] and the second in New England (the first being Alse Young in 1647) during a witch-hunt that lasted from 1647 to 1693. [2]
Overall, the Puritan belief and prevailing New England culture was that women were inherently sinful and more susceptible to damnation than men were. [36] Throughout their daily lives, Puritans, especially Puritan women, actively attempted to thwart attempts by the Devil to overtake them and their souls. Indeed, Puritans held the belief that ...
However, Harsnett was in the minority, and many clergy, not only Puritans, believed in witchcraft and possession. [87] In the 16th and 17th centuries, thousands of people throughout Europe were accused of being witches and executed. In England and Colonial America, Puritans engaged in witch hunts as well.
The Putnam family of prominent old colonial Americans was founded by Puritans John and Priscilla (Gould) Putnam in the 17th century, in Salem, Massachusetts. Many notable individuals are descendants of this family, including those listed below.
John Hale (June 3, 1636 – May 15, 1700) was the Puritan pastor of Beverly, Massachusetts, and took part in the Salem witch trials in 1692. He was one of the most prominent and influential ministers associated with the witch trials, being noted as having initially supported the trials and then changing his mind and publishing a critique of them.
"Upon the whole, it appeared unquestionable that witchcraft had brought a period unto the life of so good a man," Mather concludes. [ 5 ] Cotton Mather's book was published in 1689, only a few years before the infamous witchcraft trials of 1692 and it followed a similar book recently published by his father, Harvard president Increase Mather in ...
The son of a Puritan minister, Hopkins began his career as a witch-finder in March 1644 [a] and lasted until his retirement in 1647. Hopkins and his colleague John Stearne sent more accused people to be hanged for witchcraft than all the other witch-hunters in England of the previous 160 years, [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] and were solely responsible for ...
Witchcraft is the use of alleged supernatural powers of magic.A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic or supernatural powers to inflict harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. [1]