Salem Witchcraft and Cotton Mather: A Reply by Charles W. Upham

Description

Salem Witchcraft and Cotton Mather: A Reply is a book by Charles W. Upham, first published in 1869. In this compact but rigorous work Upham answers contemporary criticism of his earlier study of the 1692 witchcraft cases and mounts a careful defence of his research and judgments. Writing as a historian of New England, he situates the Salem events within Puritan clergy, local politics, and social pressures, and examines the contested role played by Cotton Mather and other ministers in the spread and interpretation of witchcraft accusations. Upham’s reply reads as both scholarly rejoinder and public correction: it traces the sources and evidence behind previous accounts, challenges what he sees as unfair or superficial criticisms, and insists on weighing testimony, ministerial influence, and judicial practice together rather than singling out any one cause. The tone is forensic and often polemical, aimed at students of early American history, genealogists, and anyone intrigued by the roots of the Salem witch trials and the complex relationship between religion, law, and communal fear in seventeenth-century New England.

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