Cotton Mather's engagement with witchcraft in colonial North America

Cotton Mather was an ardent believer in the existence of witchcraft. He was also a well respected minister from Boston who wrestled with the idea that witchcraft could or couldn't exist. Cotton Mather wrote on several religious topics and one particular topic of interest was witchcraft. Seen as an evil force, witchcraft by some religious people was considered devil's work. In 1692 the belief that witches and witchcraft existed was quite prevalent. In chapter 8, one of the documents of Cotton Mather discussed from an excerpt of his book: Memorable Provinces, deals with such ideas of witchcaft in a case from 1691 that involved three children.

Mary Glover, an irish washerwoman, had a disagreement with three children. After this minor argument, the three children acted in a bizarre fashion. Mather examined them and decided that their strange behavior is due in part to the influence cast upon them by Glover. Mather deduced that they were the victims of the washerwoman's witchcraft. Cases like these and documents written by Mather were widely read and influenced the girls who began the salem trial accusations.

More directly was his role in the Salem witch trials due in part to his sermons and continued written works. He strongly believed that witchcraft was devil's work and should be dealt with, with harsh punishment. There were however instances when Mather did have doubts in his beliefs. One such instance was with a man who faced hanging. He began reciting the Lord's Prayer and Mather out of guilt preached to the public he was no "ordained" minister.

Page 138: "And by the Presence and Power of the Divine Institutions thus maintained in the Country, We are still so happy, that I suppose there is no Land in the Universe" from "Enchantments Encounter'd" Cotton Mather would attempt to empirically encase Salem's specters. He also wanted to establish and demonstrate the spiral downard and opposition of the first generation Puritans. He compared what Puritans were like before and how they were in his present time. The innocence lost and how the "devil's work" or witchcraft could be a consequence of it. In fact Mather even claimed that the first generation Puritans conquered the devil's territory and the Puritans of his present time were slowly undoing the work laid by their predecessors.

In the introduction he states: "Wherefore the Devil is now making one attempt more upon us; an attempt more difficult, more surprising, more snarl'd with unintelligible circumstances than any that we have hitherto encountered; an attempt so critical that if we get well through, we shall soon enjoy Halcyon Days with all the Vultures of Hell trodden under our feet." arguing that witchcraft is not a local problem but has grown more common and widespread. The innocence that was once common among the people vanished and everyone could be accused of witchcraft. This wrestling of whether to denounce everyone at the same time want to warn everyone creates a struggle within the writing that perhaps Mather himself dealt with at the time.