Although Cotton Mather may have one of the oddest names that I have ever heard, it can't even hold a candle to that of his father, Increase Mather (seriously, who names their son Increase? If Cotton Mather had went to my elementary school, he would have been beaten up daily).
Now that the obvious elephant-in-the-room that is Cotton Mather's name has been addressed, we can discuss his writings. Let's on one hand look at how biased and uninformed The Wonders of the Invisible World is. Mather's, in his documentation of the trial of Martha Carrier, relies on evidence that would never hold up in a modern court: hearsay, attacks on the character of the accused, and "scientific evidence" all add up to a very unreliable case for prosecution. After reading all of this, it's a wonder that Mather managed to graduate from Harvard at all (or any school of higher learning, for that matter).
It is Mather's education level that is the real kicker when discussing our selection from The Wonders of the Invisible World. How could a man of higher learning commit such errors in his assessment of the trials of Martha Carrier? Did his religious views cloud his judgment? Was it the social norms of his Puritan colony that misled him? The whole thing smells of conspiracy to me. . .
Perhaps he genuinely believed that Carrier was a witch, and he bought into the whole devil in the wilderness thing. Intelligent people have been known before to support questionable causes. I just find it really tough to wrap my head around the idea of somebody with the educational background of Mather supporting something as superstitious as the Salem witch trials.
Can I just say, I literally laughed out loud in regards to your comments on Mather's name. I thought the exact same thing, and you beat me to it. I was most intrigued by his claim to writing it as a historian when he clearly had his own opinions embedded within it. I agree with your conspiracy idea. Everything regarding the Salem witch trials is a little "fishy" to me. Thanks for a laughable post!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your thoughts on Cotton Mather's name and relating him to modern society. Definitely just got an odd look when I laughed aloud in Caribou upon reading it. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd in reference to your thoughts on his education, it just goes to show that education isn't always the magical cure to being an a-hole. Just look at many of our modern day politicians!