The Colonial Witch Trial:
The colonial era (1700’s to early 1800’s) was a troublesome time for the world. Art did do its job well to reflect the truth of the times; the zeitgeist if you may. During and before these times we had encountered many things, from new world landmass discoveries to a new sense of direction. In a social aspect this was a very hypocritical period within the history of America. It was indeed a nation of immigrants and dissenters who persecuted and destroyed those who were not of their caliber or breeding.
It is obvious, that throughout history the black people have gotten the short end of the stick. This actually was not so until the triangle trade routes began, which was where African natives were trading their own for money, gold, and the most powerful buying power at the time, rum. In America there were Africans as slaves and many slurs were put upon the once thriving groups of people who were now reduced to mere pack mules. With so many bad things that were happing towards the African Americans, you’d think that they had committed some horrible crime or something of the equivalent!
But through the smokes of oppression, taken from his homeland of Africa, there was a man whose voice was heard. But his voice was not heard over microphones and he did not give oratories to large assemblies. No. He gained power that many white Americans at the time didn’t even attain. He had conquered the power of writing and he used the pen and paper to tell anyone who would listen, and it was everyone, about his story and his journey to the man he was. This man’s name was Olaudah Equiano. What he had done that had never been done before through any medium. It was that he exposed the horrors and tragedies that were caused by the middle passage.
It seems that the words that were put to verse through this man’s documents were never applied to the life of Olaudah Equiano. There was no true freedom for him or his people at this time of history. There was no equality for all men in this time of tragedy. There was barely even any equality between neighbors. A man who fought to cede from oppression, which at the time was that of the king of Great Britain and his unjust taxation, was unlike Olaudah. This man was wealthy, white, and had far more freedoms than any black slave that he could’ve known. But unlike many people who were slave owners, he was known for his humane and kindred heart towards his slaves. This man was Mr. Thomas Jefferson, the author of “The Declaration of Independence”. Enough said.
There were many patriotic Americans during this time of rebellion and revolution. A true sense and hunger for justice and freedom from the oppressors was seemingly in every, and any, place you looked. However there was one man that many of these activists looked up as their idol. There was one man who basically wrote the work that was all the rage at the time of the American Revolution. This man was Thomas Paine. He wrote a very famous pamphlet titled “Common Sense”. The stirring thought that England (the motherland) has lost sense with the colonies was disgusting to many people. But this disgust, lead to a realization. And the realization, lead to a cause. And this cause, lead to change; and that my friends was the American Revolution.
However, even though there was this revolution, there was still much time before these “others”, these dissenters, would be a part of society. Yet it was before the time
of the American Revolution, during the Colonial Era, there was a horrible mishap that mostly everyone nowadays knows about. Knowledge of it is almost as common knowledge as the Holocaust, but on a smaller scale. The Salem Witch Trials, was held within this time period. It was 1692 when they occurred in none other than the small town of Salem, Massachusetts. The trial was basically where the term “witch-hunt” was coined. It was a small group of county officials who caused mass hysteria to have various dissenters executed. They blamed these dissenters and claimed that they were guilty of conspiring with the devil and practicing the devil’s magic, black magic. No one knew for sure who was right, but the local governing powers had played so well into the fears of it’s citizens, that there was no way that they could be found wrong on their “Holy Cleansing” of their homes from the black magic of Satan. "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller is an accurate depiction of the torment and unfair justice that the victums of the Witch Trials must have recieved during this time of my hysteria and paranoia.
The colonial era (1700’s to early 1800’s) was a troublesome time for the world. Art did do its job well to reflect the truth of the times; the zeitgeist if you may. During and before these times we had encountered many things, from new world landmass discoveries to a new sense of direction. In a social aspect this was a very hypocritical period within the history of America. It was indeed a nation of immigrants and dissenters who persecuted and destroyed those who were not of their caliber or breeding.
It is obvious, that throughout history the black people have gotten the short end of the stick. This actually was not so until the triangle trade routes began, which was where African natives were trading their own for money, gold, and the most powerful buying power at the time, rum. In America there were Africans as slaves and many slurs were put upon the once thriving groups of people who were now reduced to mere pack mules. With so many bad things that were happing towards the African Americans, you’d think that they had committed some horrible crime or something of the equivalent!
But through the smokes of oppression, taken from his homeland of Africa, there was a man whose voice was heard. But his voice was not heard over microphones and he did not give oratories to large assemblies. No. He gained power that many white Americans at the time didn’t even attain. He had conquered the power of writing and he used the pen and paper to tell anyone who would listen, and it was everyone, about his story and his journey to the man he was. This man’s name was Olaudah Equiano. What he had done that had never been done before through any medium. It was that he exposed the horrors and tragedies that were caused by the middle passage.
It seems that the words that were put to verse through this man’s documents were never applied to the life of Olaudah Equiano. There was no true freedom for him or his people at this time of history. There was no equality for all men in this time of tragedy. There was barely even any equality between neighbors. A man who fought to cede from oppression, which at the time was that of the king of Great Britain and his unjust taxation, was unlike Olaudah. This man was wealthy, white, and had far more freedoms than any black slave that he could’ve known. But unlike many people who were slave owners, he was known for his humane and kindred heart towards his slaves. This man was Mr. Thomas Jefferson, the author of “The Declaration of Independence”. Enough said.
There were many patriotic Americans during this time of rebellion and revolution. A true sense and hunger for justice and freedom from the oppressors was seemingly in every, and any, place you looked. However there was one man that many of these activists looked up as their idol. There was one man who basically wrote the work that was all the rage at the time of the American Revolution. This man was Thomas Paine. He wrote a very famous pamphlet titled “Common Sense”. The stirring thought that England (the motherland) has lost sense with the colonies was disgusting to many people. But this disgust, lead to a realization. And the realization, lead to a cause. And this cause, lead to change; and that my friends was the American Revolution.
However, even though there was this revolution, there was still much time before these “others”, these dissenters, would be a part of society. Yet it was before the time
of the American Revolution, during the Colonial Era, there was a horrible mishap that mostly everyone nowadays knows about. Knowledge of it is almost as common knowledge as the Holocaust, but on a smaller scale. The Salem Witch Trials, was held within this time period. It was 1692 when they occurred in none other than the small town of Salem, Massachusetts. The trial was basically where the term “witch-hunt” was coined. It was a small group of county officials who caused mass hysteria to have various dissenters executed. They blamed these dissenters and claimed that they were guilty of conspiring with the devil and practicing the devil’s magic, black magic. No one knew for sure who was right, but the local governing powers had played so well into the fears of it’s citizens, that there was no way that they could be found wrong on their “Holy Cleansing” of their homes from the black magic of Satan. "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller is an accurate depiction of the torment and unfair justice that the victums of the Witch Trials must have recieved during this time of my hysteria and paranoia.
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