In this book, Boyer and Nissenbaum go deeper to help us as readers understand the truth of Salem Village and their witchcraft accusations in 1692. The two believed the witchcraft occurred because of the differences in social classes, geography, and the desperate need to establish a strong community in the midst of it all. There was a separation within Salem Town and Salem Village, where as Salem Village was not a part of Salem Town and the Village paid taxes to the Town. Within the separation was two families, the Putnam's and the Porter’s. The Putnam’s lived in Salem Village and enjoyed living there where they supported the new church and the new minister Samuel Parris. The Porter’s on the other hand did not like the separation between the Town and Village and they did not like the new minister. The division between the two had already caused problems within themselves with people signing the Anti-Parris and the Pro-Parris petitions and had an equal cause on the trials themselves. Those who were against Parris testified against the accused and the ones who were for Parris usually defended the accused. The ones that did not side with the Pro or Anti were considered the outsiders and most people did not understand them which in turn made them more vulnerable to be …show more content…
The authors started with the witch trials then went back into the history to why and how it all happened and their conclusions to every discussed topic was clear. They included visual aids such as maps of Salem Town and Salem Village, the wealth in Salem, the family tree of the Porter and Putnam families, the land of the two families, the town board of selectmen and Salem committee, and maps on where the accused were individually hung. These aids helped understand the division between families and why it happened. After every chapter there was a list of sources on where the authors got their information from and they did include a