Cotton Mather Salem Witch Trials By Alec Holt

Cotton Mather Salem Witch Trials By Alec Holt & Victoria Mc. Lain

What role did your character play in the trials? • Mather was not directly involved in the trials. • He wrote to John Richards of Boston urging caution in the use of spectral evidence. • He also wrote to the Salem court system in the “return of the several ministers” also urging them to caution spectral evidence. • The courts interpreted the letter as a seal of approval for the trial to proceed.

What was your historical figures social and economic status in the Salem community? That is, what did your character do for a living? Was he or she well off? Would he or she be considered educated, upper class, middle class, lower class, poor? • He was born into a family of puritan ministers. • I’d say he was upper class because he was born into a family full of ministers. • He was a minister at the age of 22 and with his education he was probably very well off.

How old was your character at the time of the trials? • He was in his late twenties around 27 years old.

Was your character married or single? • He was married three times. He was married to Abigail Phillips, Elizabeth Hubbard, and Lydia Lee George.

Was your character regarded as a good Christian? • Yes, he was a well known preacher at the age of 22.

Was there any gossip going around about your character? • Maybe a little, he was really only talked about in the courts from his writing to them about being cautious in their use of spectral evidence.

What was your character’s reputation in the community? • He had a good reputation during his early years of his career. • That changed when he hung George Burroughs, accusing him to be involved in witchcraft, after he recited the lords Prayer Perfectly.

Did your character suffer from ill health or any other sort of hardship? • He was mainly healthy. • He lived to the age of 66 which was a long time back in those days.

Did your character bear a grudge against anyone in the community? • He did not really bear any grudges. • He did feel guilty against himself for how he ended his career with the Salem witch trials and George Burroughs.

Do you like your character? Why or why not? • Yes, he was more fair then most of the people involved at the time. • He made a mistake with George Burroughs, he was deeply sorry for what he did at that time.

What else should we know about your character? • He wrote 400 books from witchcraft to small pox inoculation. • He was a accomplished scientist and was part of the prestigious royal society of London.

Work cited • www 2. iath. virginia. edu/salem/people/c_math er. html • www. csustan. edu/english/reben/pal/chapl. m ather. html • www. cindyvallar. com/mather. html