Entry #2: Salem’s Impact Years Later

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Gretchen Adams wrote about propaganda use of mentioning the Salem witch trials in battles between the North and South through pamphlets. According to Adams in the 1850s, the Salem trials were used as a political narrative in attacking Northern policies and activities: “As pro-slavery Southern Congressmen took to the floor of the House and Senate to denounce Northern abolition activity that they used as evidence. It was Salem’s witch-hunt. How could Northerners, they asked, defend a society in which witches were once burned, literally, by the cord?”(Adams 25).  This use of propaganda worked in favor of the South, as many communities were not well educated on the real events of the trials, just through rumor and public opinion. She continues by explaining the idea of ‘burning’ and the detrimental effect it had on opinions of people in the North: “Witch burnings in Salem, in fact, was an invention of this period and this controversy. The more horrific idea of ‘burning’ was uniquely suited to derive the maximum emotional reaction from its intended audience. It was an image that was effective in the 1850s and which, once established, has been notoriously difficult to dislodge from the myth of Salem Witchcraft.”(Adams 25). In fact, burning was not part of the conviction process in Salem, showing a historical inaccuracy on behalf of the South. Similarly, in the statements above, the Confederates used ideas of “Salem Witchcraft” in their propaganda against the Northern communities. This idea of hysteria translates into the pop culture we see today.
In other ways, Adams reveals the negative aspect of the trial as misinformation was spread.  Due to this exploitation of circumstances, Adams argues, “The Civil War era use of Salem witchcraft had consequences beyond stirring wartime emotions. It killed the schoolbook Puritan. It had long been difficult to maintain the Puritan symbol as the virtuous national founder alongside the burden of simultaneously condemning his actions at Salem.”(Adams 26). The tainting of the Puritan reputation led to the decline of religion as the main source of American identity as the nation continued to develop.
Have you viewed Salem in propaganda in other mediums? What do historical inaccuracies do to the reputation of those in Salem? Comment below!
Citations and links:
Adams, Gretchen A. “The Specter of Salem in American Culture.” OAH Magazine of History,        vol. 17, no. 4, 2003, pp. 24–27. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25163618.

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