Erica
Haimbaugh
Prof
Westblade
REL
319
10.5.15
The 1690s: Political and Spiritual
Upheaval
The
1690s were marked by war both in Europe and in the colonies. The Nine YearsÕ
War covered almost the entirety of the decade, and the colonists fought both French
colonials in Canada as well as Indians allied with the French. Although English
colonists breathed easier once William and Mary took the throne from Catholic
James II, the decade was also marked by spiritual warfare of a different kind—the
witch trials rocked Salem and surrounding areas, causing widespread fear and
distrust. Also in this tumultuous decade, the Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth
Colonies were granted a new charter, combining them into one colony by order of
the King and Queen and also changing the governmental structure of the colonies.
(Also of note, although none knew how important it would be at the time,
Timothy and Esther Edwards were married in Northampton in 1694.[1])
Politically,
the 1690s were a continuation of what is called King WilliamÕs War, the French
and Indian War, and the Nine YearsÕ War. In 1688, Prince William of Orange
invaded his uncle King James IIÕs realm with the Dutch army, and James fled to
France. William and Mary took the vacant throne and agreed to a legalized form
of what had already been the case—the balance of power between the Crown
and Parliament that James had so upset was restored. Once declared king,
William had the power to challenge French dominance, and he did so with great
alacrity. This was the beginning of what is called King WilliamÕs War, which
overlaps with the Nine YearsÕ War.[2]
Louis XIV of France, on the other hand, fought not only to maintain and further
his kingdom and power but also to put James IIÕs son James III on the throne,
while Protestants sought to keep the English throne out of the hands of
Catholics.[3]
This European war took place also in the colonies—New England and New
France. The French in Canada and the English in Massachusetts and New York each
led raids on the other, trying to establish dominance on the North American continent
and gain more territory on the orders of their parent countries. This resulted
in ill feelings, because those in the colonies were expected to fight the
parent countriesÕ wars with what they saw as little military or monetary
support.[4]
There was also political upheaval in
another way: although the Massachusetts Bay Colony had had its charter revoked
in 1684, it was not until after the Glorious Revolution that a new one was
granted.[5]
In the late 1680s, Increase Mather went to Europe to gain the support of James
II for restoring the old charter. James II desperately needed allies and was
thus sympathetic to the Puritan cause and cries against Sir Edmund AndrosÕ rule
of the colonies. James II never delivered the promised aid, however, as William
III soon deposed him. Increase was left in a bit of a bind, as William decided
not to restore MassachusettsÕ Charter but rather issue a new one. This new
charter enfranchised men on the basis of property rather than church membership,
which heralded the end of Puritan New England as it once had been.[6]
While Increase was in England, his son
Cotton sought to maintain his church and give good counsel about the witch
trials in Massachusetts. The first accusation of witchcraft was leveled against
Goody Glover in 1692 and the debate on witchcraft continued between Mather and
another man, Robert Calef until 1696, though the
trials themselves ended in 1694.[7]
Cotton Mather was very concerned to not
accuse anyone on the basis of spectral evidence (as the devil could make
apparitions of holy people appear to torment those accusing people of
witchcraft) or on circumstantial, so-called evidence, such as an angry look. On
the other hand, Mather deeply wished to trust the judgment of the juries and to
follow through on the punishment they prescribed. He was at once trying to be
cautious in not killing saints but also aware that even Lucifer was a fallen
angel. In CottonÕs mind, it was very possible, perhaps even probable, that
those apparently tormented by witches were in fact possessed by devils. If that
were the case, the devils in possession were causing the possessed to see the
appearance of good and holy people, resulting in the ruination of saints.[8]
These happenings were seen as portends of the end times, causing Mather to
preach on the book of Revelation, which was unusual for a Puritan minister.[9]
Mather also attended an execution in Andover, and though accounts of what he
actually said differ, it is likely that Mather, in the end, defended the
sentencing from the judges. His father, on the other hand, objected to the witch hunt and did not believe they should have been
executed: Increase had heard the accused witches recant their confessions of
witchcraft.[10]
Both published books near the end of the trials, and while both tried to
present a united front, there were many who believed
they were in direct opposition to each other.[11]
Also around the end of the witch trials,
in around 1693, Increase and Cotton MatherÕs church, the North Church, finally
agreed to the Halfway Covenant, and baptized John Sunderland on January 15,
1693. This was an extension of the Stoddardism
already put in place by Cotton Mather in 1690, when his father was in England.
Cotton had determined that if a person was certain they were not unregenerate,
they might take communion.[12]
Nearly a year later, the North Church experienced a revival: in one Sunday of
September Cotton admitted thirteen people into the church. The following year,
1695, they admitted only five. This 1694 revival occurred at the same time as
the appearance of angels to many who had previously been tormented by witches
or possessed by devils. The Mathers were skeptical of
these happenings, but Cotton Mather was sure his life had been touched by the
supernatural in some way.[13]
The
1690s were a time of great upheaval and confusion in the English colonies, and
also in the world at large. Everyone was touched by a war in some way—if
not actual war with the French, then Indian raids; if not physical warfare,
then spiritual warfare as the Puritan colonies were faced with a changing
system of government and spiritual attacks either by witches, devils, or, as
some believe today, by unhappy and repressed children seeking to be free of
Puritan restrictiveness.[14]
In any case, the front half of the 1690s were loaded with intense change, and
it was only with the end of the witch trials and the Nine YearsÕ War that lives
really returned to their new normal in the face of the new charter and its
subsequent change in governing style.
Bibliography
Baker, Emerson W. A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and
the American
Experience.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
Hall, Michael G. The Last America Puritan: The Life of
Increase Mather. Connecticut: Wesleyan
University Press, 1988.
Leckie, Robert. ÒA Few Acres of Snow:Ó The Saga of the French and Indian Wars.
New
York:
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1999.
Marsden, George M. Jonathan Edwards: A Life. New Haven:
Yale University Press, 2003.
Middlekauff, Robert. The Mathers: Three Generations of Puritan Intellectuals,
1596-1728. New
York:
Oxford University Press, 1971.
Peckham, Howard H. The Colonial Wars 1689-1762. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1964.
Rose, Craig. England
in the 1690s: Revolution, Religion, and War. Blackwell
Publishers
Ltd: Oxford, 1999.
Silverman, Kenneth. The Life and Times of Cotton Mather. New
York: Harper & Row,
1984.
[1] Jonathan Edwards: A
Life, 23
[2] England in the 1690s,
8-13
[3] ÒA Few Acres of SnowÓ:
The Saga of the French and Indian Wars, 173-5
[4] The Colonial Wars:
1689-1762, 25-56
[5] The first charter had
been revoked because the king wanted to institute a new form of government, one
with him at the head rather than God. Puritans were deeply concerned about
this, because they felt it would be an affront to God to remove His headship of
their community. The Life and Times of Cotton Mather, 61-2. The previous
charter had given the Puritans an almost unreserved autonomy, because the
charter was tied to the land of Massachusetts rather than to a company under
the KingÕs authority. A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American
Experience, 53-4.
[6] The Last American
Puritan: The Life of Increase Mather, 214-254
[7] Life and Times, 88; 132
[8] Ibid,
102-3. (See also: A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the
American Experience for a discussion on the idea that the devil did, in fact,
cause this uproar in order to kill many good Puritans and cause a break in the
united worship and love of God that was found there.)
[9] Ibid, 107-8
[10] Ibid.,
110
[11] Life and Times, 117
[12] Ibid,
119. (See also: The Mathers: Three Generations
of Puritan Intellectuals, 120-4 for a deeper discussion of why Increase at
first did not approve of the Halfway Covenant and why he later changed his
mind.)
[13] Ibid, 135-6
[14] Ibid, 90-1