TY - JOUR
AU - Pestana, Carla Gardina
AB - https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/rhae463rhae463 FEATURED REVIEW The Origins of Witchcraft Crisis 50 Years Later Paul  Boyer  and  Stephen  Nissenbaum. Salem achieve autonomy. Attaining New England town sta- Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft. Cambridge, tus required the creation of a separate church; realiz- MA: Harvard University Press, 1974. 256 pp. Paper ing that project caused repeated conflict. The village $31.50. was also riven by economic differences. Villagers who lived closest to the port town of Salem (many of them Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft is along a well-traveled road) tended to be more pros- one of the best-known books on early American his- perous, with greater ties to the town. Salem Possessed tory of the last half century. Using social history and uncovered enmities centered around the extended (for its time) cutting edge historical techniques bor- Porter and Putnam families. The latter, whose for- rowed from the social sciences, the authors located tunes were declining, favored village autonomy, less the origins of the witchcraft crisis within modern- interaction with the outside world, and the ministry izing trends, especially the advent of capitalism. of Samuel Parrish. The former were prosperous, well Between the book and related publications of pri- integrated into 
TI - The Origins of Witchcraft Crisis 50 Years Later
JO - The American Historical Review
DO - 10.1093/ahr/rhae463
DA - 2024-12-05
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/oxford-university-press/the-origins-of-witchcraft-crisis-50-years-later-Xqs1Z669op
SP - 1751
EP - 1754
VL - 129
IS - 4
DP - DeepDyve
ER -