Witchcraft In America

These views, in and of themselves, speak to the level of intolerance permeating America and to the level of fear associated with witchcraft. The Religious intolerance and fear experienced in English North America was not a sole construct of Puritanism in New England. These ideas permeated Southwards throughout the length of the thirteen English colonies. Oftentimes, the fear of witchcraft led to colonial governments establishing capital laws against any person entering into communion with Satan. For instance, prior to the union of East and West New Jersey into a single royal colony, East New Jersey, which was primarily a mixture of Dutch reformed and Baptist Congregations, maintained in 1668 that “…if any person be found to be a witch, either

In 1684, Penn was forced to oversee a case of witchcraft involving two Swedish immigrants, Margaret Mattson and Yeshro Hendrickson; they were both accused of bewitching their Quaker neighbors and for casting an enchantment that prevented the local cows from giving any milk. In all likelihood, the women were holdovers from what had been the colony of New Sweden which was consumed by New Netherlands in 1655 and then transferred to English control in 1667. The colony of New Sweden featured a religious mixture which was at odds with Penn’s Society of Friends. While New Sweden was composed primarily of Lutherans, the colony also possessed a large number of woodsmen from Finland. Consequently, the Finns brought local customs regarding folklore and healing to the New World. In turn, this created a situation in 1684 where the two previously mentioned Swedish women were accused of witchcraft; they may have, in all likelihood, come from Finland. As neither of the two women could even speak English, this case represented a severe instance of cultural aversion on the part of the English Quakers, and an example of religious intolerance. Fortunately for Margaret Mattson and Yeshro Hendrickson, William Penn quickly deduced that their indictment was based on both of these notions, and he dismissed the case against them, much to the char

In 1976, an Archaeological field excavation at the property of the former governor of New Sweden, Johan Björnsson Printz, revealed the use of a witch pot. The pot actually postdated Printz, and it was established that the pot was manufactured sometime during the 1740’s at a time when the property was occupied by a Quaker family called the Taylor’s. Found upside down and buried next to the home on the property, the bottle contained six round pins, and it was deposited adjacent to bird bones possibly from a partridge. Just like New Jersey, this use of the witch pot had a corollary in 18th century England where homeowners sought to provide protection of their land from witches. In turn, this method was brought the New World and used at the former New Sweden governor’s property by English Quakers. In addition to this example, a witch pot was also discovered in modern Pittsburgh