Soraya Pashaei-Marandi 2/2/2017 HIST 105-520 In Salem Possessed, the underlying tensions in the Salem community that eventually caused the outburst now known as the Salem Witch Trials are described using historical evidence. It all began when a small section of Salem, known as Salem Village, wanted to become a separate entity from Salem Town. The town was primarily a trading center and relied on the farmers that resided in the Village for food. They were unwilling to relinquish their jurisdiction over the Village, not only because of the crops they provided, but the additional tax revenue that it brought in. The Village felt it was being controlled and wanted to be free from the overbearing presence and their dependence on the Town. The Village’s desire to separate from the Town was reflected in their plan to create a separate church. The Village believed that by having their own church, they would begin to become more independent and would be released from the grasp of the Town. Eventually they achieved their goal, but it only caused more issues for the people. There were two very obvious sides to this conflict; two powerful families in Salem represented these opposing viewpoints. The Porter and Putnam families were the supporters of each argument. The Porters were rich merchants who resided in the Town and were therefore opposed to the idea of the Village separating and having its own church. The Putnam family, on the other hand, owned acreage mostly in the Village. They were primarily farmers and some of the wealthiest Village members. They passionately supported the effort to separate from the Town and create a Village church that would allow them to come closer to being a stabilized community. These two families were in the hear of the conflict and were both important components of the Witch Trials. Another key character involved in Salem’s chaos was Joseph Putnam. He was the son of Thomas Putnam’s second marriage. When Thomas died, he gave most of his holdings to MaryVeren, Joseph’s mother, and Joseph. This enraged Joseph’s half-siblings, especially the eldest son, Thomas Putnam Jr., who believed that Joseph and his mother stole his inheritance. After Mary died, she left everything to get son. This lit the vengeful fire of the Putnam siblings even more. They demanded an inquiry into her will, and no foul play was proven. Eventually Joseph married a young Porter girl which aroused more trouble. The Putnam’s disdain toward Mary and her son was brought up during the Witch Trials. Another instigator in the witchcraft crisis was Reverend Parris. He had experiences failure throughout his life and wanted to have the control and respect he thought he deserved. He preyed upon the tension that he knew was building up and tried to use it to his own advantage. The Reverend preached sermons of hate and provoked the Villagers to detest the supposed witches. Eventually he realized he had gone too far but there was not much he could do to prevent the consequences. In the most general sense, the accused during the witch trials were people who were somehow related to the Porters. The accusations were made by people related to the Putnam family. This all comes back to the story of Joseph Putnam and the rage the siblings felt towards Mary. This hate was redirected to similar rich successful women, such as those related to or friends of the Porter family. The tensions that spread throughout Salem led to an outburst of violence directed at women who did not fit into society’s expectations. Women were supposed to be quiet, submissive, and dependent on men. Any woman who did not follow this criteria was believed to be evil and thus possessed by the devil, and marked as a witch. The books strengths are that it is well organized and uses many unpublished sources. With these valuable sources come strong proven arguments that the authors prove their points with. The weakness of the book is that it was difficult to keep track of the dates, households, and