Are we Still Puritan at Heart?

     When I first read about Salem, the witch trials, Puritans, and the House of the Seven Gables, I didn't think much of them. To me, they were simply words written about a place I'd never been to, about people I'd never met, and about a time to which I could not relate. However, more of the stories are true than one would think, and after reading about the background of the time period, Nathaniel Hawthorne, the house itself, and Puritans in Salem, I feel as if  I can understand more of the information presented in books I have already read or will read. It's pretty spooky, actually--seeing as it's Halloween.......BOO!!!

     For example, Nathaniel Hawthorne has more in common with Salem than one would think. For instance,  one of his relatives was John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch trials. Some trivia about Nathaniel Hawthorne include that he eventually changed his name to "Hawthorne" in order to separate himself from his infamous ancestors. Also, he was born on July 4, 1804, and graduated from college in 1825 with Franklin Pierce, who would later become a United States President. Finally, Hawthorne often visited Salem, specifically the House of the Seven Gables, in order to be entertained by his cousin, Susannah Ingersoll, whose family occupied the house at the time.

     Speaking of the House of the Seven Gables, let's delve a bit deeper! This house is located in Salem, Massachusetts (yes, THE Salem, Massachusetts!), at 54 Turner Street. It is called "The house of the seven gables" because it literally has seven gables,which are the pointy things on the tops of the roof. It is quite interesting that the house where Nathaniel Hawthorne was born was moved to The House of the Seven Gables and is now extremely close in proximity to it--they are separated by only a few feet! As stated in the novel, The House of the Seven Gables, the building itself has an impressive history. It has been in the control of several different families, all of which have a story to tell. For instance, by Hawthorne's time, the house could only be seen with three gables. However, his cousin told him the house's history, and showed him the evidence of former gables. The house itself can still be seen today.

     The novel, The House of the Seven Gables, is partially about the town of Salem dealing with its past--a past which is now referred to as the Salem Witch trials. There are many possible explanations as to why these trials occurred. One of these possibilities could simply be teenage boredom. These teenagers who pointed fingers at so many villagers in order to have them executed could have simply attributed to the lack of excitement in the village. Then, there is the matter of the children falling ill in Salem. These sicknesses could have been attributed to ergot, a fungus which is easily grows in warm, damp, rainy springs and summers. Is it just a coincidence that this is how the Summer of 1691 was described? Nearly all of the young girls lived to the West within the Salem village, which was an area with swampy meadows would have allowed ergot to thrive. Furthermore, ergot is commonly found in rye, a staple ingredient in almost every type of food in Salem. Alternatively, the summer of 1692, which was towards the end of the time of the "bewitchments", was extremely dry, eliminating the risk of ergot in the village. Some symptoms that may result from eating ergot-contaminated food include violent muscle spasms, vomiting, delusions, hallucinations, crawling sensations on the skin, and a host of other symptoms, many of which were experienced by Ruth and Betty in The Crucible. Lovely.....

     Finally, we have the Puritans. The Puritans were extremely radical Christian thinkers which occupied the town of Salem at the time. They were categorized as believing in a theocracy, or government by religion. Basically, this meant that the government officials in the Puritan towns were the Priests and Reverends. The Puritans had some very odd traditions and rituals, at least from our perspective. For example, they believed a child born on a Sunday was a child of sin. This is because they thought that children born on the Sabbath Day were conceived on a Sabbath Day as well. You see, in Puritan society, sexual intercourse on Sundays was forbidden. (So, being born on a Sunday, made you like Black Sabbath, right? ...Right? ...No? Whistles..... Anyways.....) Puritans lived their lives in fear of a God as well as in fear of his counterpart, the Devil. It seems like an extremely humble yet unenjoyable and fearful lifestyle. 
     How does the Puritan-type society that existed so long ago still influence us today? Well, our religious diversity in the United States is a prime example! Many states do not yet allow gay marriage. The constitution does not mention it as being a bad thing, though the bible does. This represents some of our Puritan theocracy roots, though there is supposed to be a separation of Church and State. Our Puritan ancestors still influence us today because of the laws that they set in place before our system of government came around. Some of them just happened to stick around. Leave me a comment as to what evidence of Puritan roots influences you in your everyday life!
A Presto,
Simon