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Witchcraft in the seventeenth century was by no means just a New England, or puritan phenomena. Such outbursts of hysteria could be found across Europe, as well as other American colonies. Nevertheless ninety-five percent of all formal witchcraft accusations in North America in the seventeenth century occurred in New England. Their puritan beliefs obviously strengthened their conviction, in what can now be termed a superstition. It is impossible to explain some of the events and this has led to a great historical debate over the force behind the accusations. A pattern does emerge, however, that suggests that those who failed to fit in, or even seemed a threat to the existing social order, were the most likely to be accused. It therefore appears that in many cases witchcraft scares were used to buttress the existing social order.
The historian G.Kittredge plays down the role of puritanism in explaining the hysteria, pointing out in his work that it could be found in both the Anglican and Catholic church.* When, however, you consider ninety-five per cent of all formal accusations for witchcraft in North America and ninety per cent of all executions for witchcraft in North America, all happened in puritan New England, puritanism can not so easily be dismissed.
New Englanders had a wide range of beliefs we would now most probably term superstitions or myths. These, for example, included the belief in mermaids. One of their principle beliefs was the belief in providential magic, that is searching for signs in the natural world for God's approval or disapproval. Everything, they believed, had a meaning and thus in their thinking there was no such thing as an accident or co-incidence. On top of this we can add their firm belief in the Devil, whose work was carried out on earth by witches. When everything has got a greater meaning, bad luck can look like witchcraft.
Puritanism was a highly individualistic creed. The challenge to puritan society was to focus this individualistic thrust without society dissolving into countless sects, each with their own interpretation of the truth. So whilst it was individualistic, it also required unity. Communities were formed around churches and the decisions of that community were made by that congregation. Only church members could vote or hold office. Puritanism, therefore had no real clear division between political and religious life. A political threat could be taken as a religious threat. Protest and discord were viewed as the work of the Devil. This helps explain why witchcraft scares were so common in New England and shows that they were used to scare off protest and discord, thus buttressing the existing social order.
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