Summary Of Escaping Salem By Richard Godbeer

The Salem Witch Trials is something many have heard of throughout the courses in the education of history. The Salem witch trials is mostly known for trials against people being accused of practicing witch-craft in colonial New England, which led to hundreds of accusations and 20 executions. The book Escaping Salem: The Other Witch Hunt of 1692, written by Richard Godbeer helped create a better vision of what actually went on during the time of these trials. Richard Godbeer attended Oxford University in 1984 for his B.A, later receiving his Ph.D. from Brandeis University in 1989. According to the University of Miami’s College of Arts and Sciences, Godbeer specializes in colonial and revolutionary America, with an emphasis on religious culture, gender studies, and the history of sexuality. Some of his earlier works include The Devil’s Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England which was published in 1992, and Sexual Revolution in Early America, published in 2002. After publishing Escaping Salem: The Other Witch Hunt of 1692 in 2004, he later published The Salem Witch Hunt: A Brief History With Documents in 2011.
He tells the story of a young girl named Kate Branch, who suffered from hallucinations, fear, and pain. In the story, Branch accuses 6 women of bewitching her, 2 of whom actually went to trial. By, using the narrative style, Godbeer helps the readers understand what was going on by using descriptive words making us feel like we are actually there inside the Connecticut courtroom. Elizabeth Clawson and Mercy Disborough were the two women put on trial, both facing a death sentence if the evidence was “proven” to be true. After more evidence, research, and several trials, the Courts final decision concluded that Clawson should be released, and Disborough be given the death