Devil in Salem Village

By Laurel Van Der Linde

Book Overview

Outlines the historical and sociological factors that lead to the Salem witch hunt in 1692 when nineteen people were tried and executed for allegedly practicing witchcraft. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1562941445
• ISBN13: 9781562941444
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Millbrook Press
• Length: 72 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 7.8" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 3

Customer Reviews

An introduction to the madness of the Salem Witch Trials

"The Devil in Salem Village: The Story of the Salem Witchcraft Trials" is more a history of these sordid events in colonial times rather than an explanation for how this madness could have happened. Author Laurel Van Der Linde begins in the middle of the story, with the hanging of five condemned witches, establish the height of the hysteria, before going back to the ancient beginnings of the trial and execution of witches. Van Der Linde makes it clear that thousands of supposed witches had been hanged or burned in England and Europe, and that the Salem Witch Trials were not the most famous but also the final trials of this sort in America. The chapter where she explains the theory and practice of witch hunting sets up the story of 17th-century Salem while the next explains the history of Salem Town and Salem Village as well as the Puritan codes under which the colonists lived.The repeated cycle of accusations, trials, and executions are laid out in a simple and straightforward manner, with Van Der Linde pointing out the problematic elements of the accounts of the young girls. What becomes clear is how each success empowered these girls to go after new victims, including those who had been seen as pious community members, a respected minister, and, finally the wife of the Governor. This is a concise account, which will certainly introduce young readers to the historical facts. There are certainly other books that can provide more details and more analysis, but this is a solid first step. The history of what happened in Salem in supplemented by quotations taken from the actual trial transcripts, which certainly makes this seem more real. There are also reproductions of Ann Putnam's sworn statement against Sarah Good, a bottle containing "witch pins" that witches were said to use ot torture victims, and the first page of a 1711 decree that cleared the names of several of the victims. This book is part of the Spotlight on American History series, which highlights a vital moment in U.S. history by placing events against a backdrop of the people, places, and times that made them possible (e.g., "Roanoke: The Story of the Lost Colony").

Very good over all.

This piece of literature is very well written for a child doing a research projecy on this topic