Difference between revisions of "Week 4 Questions/Comments"
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I got extremely frustrated while reading the examination of Abigail Hobbs at Salem Prison under “The ‘Casco Girls’ Accuse George Burroughs, 1692” in MP. First off, Abigail’s testimony contradicts itself so many times that it becomes quite obvious, at least to me, that she is lying. Why wasn’t this obvious to the Judge? Why wasn’t faulty testimony penalized? I thought these accusers were supposed to be hard-nosed Christians. If this were true how did they live with themselves knowing they committed a sin (LYING) in order to convict an innocent person?- Lisa Wilkerson | I got extremely frustrated while reading the examination of Abigail Hobbs at Salem Prison under “The ‘Casco Girls’ Accuse George Burroughs, 1692” in MP. First off, Abigail’s testimony contradicts itself so many times that it becomes quite obvious, at least to me, that she is lying. Why wasn’t this obvious to the Judge? Why wasn’t faulty testimony penalized? I thought these accusers were supposed to be hard-nosed Christians. If this were true how did they live with themselves knowing they committed a sin (LYING) in order to convict an innocent person?- Lisa Wilkerson | ||
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| + | Lisa, in response to your question as to why none of the judges were bothered by the obvious contradictions in Abigail's testimony, you have to remember that she was acting out physically (distracting) and believing her was convenient to the judges for political reasons. --A.Meyer | ||
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| + | Do you believe there is enough evidence of a connection to the threat of Indian raids to support Norton's theory about the Casco Bay connection to Salem? Does this make the idea of conversion hysteria more understandable? When I read Norton's In the Devil's Snare for another class last year(the longer book version of this essay) I was left wondering if the some of the Casco girls were more suffering from trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder. --A. Meyer | ||
I found "Landon Carter Complains About His Female Slaves, 1771-1773" in Major Problems page 82 & 83 rather shocking for many obvious reasons. Beyond this, the disparity between the treatment of African women and white women of the period is frightful. While colonial women may have had little power, it pales in comparison to the hopelessly bleak situation of the African female. I am sure that cowkeeping was not commonly thought to be a female task of the period. This task, along with many others, also carried the promise of whipping for failure. Based on the writing, it seems to be believe that whipping was the only cure for "poor" behavior. The same ideals of female submission were also applied with greater force, illustrated in the writing "The mother and sister fell on Beale when he went to apply my Prescription; but by the stumps of the switches they got also cured of their rebellious impudence..." (MP 83) It was with slavery that the submission of a race, especially with a focus to the women, was to be furthered. --Robert Kopp | I found "Landon Carter Complains About His Female Slaves, 1771-1773" in Major Problems page 82 & 83 rather shocking for many obvious reasons. Beyond this, the disparity between the treatment of African women and white women of the period is frightful. While colonial women may have had little power, it pales in comparison to the hopelessly bleak situation of the African female. I am sure that cowkeeping was not commonly thought to be a female task of the period. This task, along with many others, also carried the promise of whipping for failure. Based on the writing, it seems to be believe that whipping was the only cure for "poor" behavior. The same ideals of female submission were also applied with greater force, illustrated in the writing "The mother and sister fell on Beale when he went to apply my Prescription; but by the stumps of the switches they got also cured of their rebellious impudence..." (MP 83) It was with slavery that the submission of a race, especially with a focus to the women, was to be furthered. --Robert Kopp | ||
