Capitalism and Imperialism the Book

Capitalism and Imperialism

The book Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem by Elaine Breslaw, provides an interesting and unusual perspective on the Salem witch trials. It traces the events to and from the confession of a young Indian girl, Tituba, which was pivotal in the rest of the witch trails. The author holds that Tituba's confession is not only a play on the prevalent fears of the Puritan community of the time, but also instrumental on the trials, incarceration, and executions that occurred subsequently. The book is then Breslaw's attempt to shed some historical light on a woman that has become all but legend in the American collective consciousness. What is most interesting is its expansion of the causes and concerns surrounding the trials to include a more global perspective, while also providing intercultural interactions and issues to light, which are not generally part of the ideas surrounding the trials. Indeed, to my mind, the Salem witch trials were simply the result of overzealous Christianity attempting to impose itself, like so many times in history, by means of fear and subversion. This book has shed a lot of interesting light on the events surrounding the trials, and the confession that started them.

Ms Breslaw spends the first part of her book providing a large amount of historical evidence to indicate that Tituba was both Indian, rather than black, and that she was brought to the United States from Barbados, where she was already housed as a slave. Although, as an average reader, I felt at times that much of the details could have been usefully summarized and abbreviated, it is also good to recognize the author's focus on historical accuracy. Indeed, in her introduction to the book she notes that historians are obliged to find some sort of documentation or statistical evidence for their claims. Failing this, the subject of investigation tends to vanish in the mists of time. This is what nearly occurred in Tituba's case. However, the author's tenacity in finding obscure documentation such as slave lists and other documents from the depths of library archives provided her with enough material to revive this woman, and present the world with a more complete image of the Salem witch trials and their causes. From a historical viewpoint, this first part of the book therefore provides sound evidence for Tituba's existence as a slave in Barbados and her subsequent transport to Massachusetts in the same role in the Parris household.

What is particularly interesting about the historical account is the probable spiritual and religious influences on Tituba as she grew up. There were various occult beliefs and practices that informed Tituba's confession when she provided it for the trials. These combined with her awareness of the Puritan system and its fears when her confession was constructed for the purpose of highlighting these fears. Because of these, the Puritan inquisitors had not difficulty believing Tituba's words or her guilt as a witch. The author holds that this was a subtle rebellion of a slave woman against a culture and religion that had brought her a lifetime of oppression and pain. Her confession was then the pivotal point for the start of one of the most painful events in the history of the United States.

What is interesting to me personally is that Breslaw provides a much more global view of the witch trials and its influences than is generally available in books and documents regarding the trial. In my own view, the witch trials were the result of the mindset of the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition; the subversion of certain sectors of society by Christian leaders by means of fear. However, I never realized that, for the witch trials, there was a much wider perspective. Indeed, Tituba's young life was informed by a religion that was as far removed from Christianity at the time as it was possible to be. According to the book, Tituba's confession was the result of the meeting of the two religious paradigms; Tituba's occult beliefs and the strict premise of Christianity.

Strong and justified as Tituba's rebellion was, however, I find it particularly tragic that many innocent men, women, and even children suffered as a result. On the other hand, one might also argue that Tituba and the men, women and children of her own culture suffered as a result of the slave trade, and that her confession was an appropriate response to what she had suffered throughout her life. In this way, the book has provided me with a much more balanced and universal view of the conditions and cultures surrounding the witch trials. In this, I think it is a very important contribution to the history surrounding the trials, precisely because of its multicultural perspective. What happened as a result of Tituba's confession is also an important lesson about history and tolerance for the cultural roots of others. Had the Puritan church leaders been more tolerant of the cultures they encountered, the violence might never have occurred.