The Torturer's Dilemma: Analyzing the Logic of Torture for Information
The Torturer's Dilemma: Analyzing the Logic of Torture for Information
The Torturer's Dilemma: Analyzing the Logic of Torture for Information
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
came to an end. Misogyny was all too present in Salem – it was in fact a constant – but no more so in<br />
1692 than during any <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r witch trials that also occur in New England. 57 <strong>The</strong> considerable<br />
political uncertainty had an ambiguous effect on <strong>the</strong> trials: <strong>the</strong> lack <strong>of</strong> a constituted authority be<strong>for</strong>e <strong>the</strong><br />
arrival <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> new charter meant that <strong>the</strong> Court was not convened until more than three months after <strong>the</strong><br />
first accusations were leveled, delaying <strong>the</strong> trials but also allowing <strong>the</strong> backlog <strong>of</strong> accused to<br />
accumulate. Nor was <strong>the</strong> witchhunt a reaction to <strong>the</strong> threatened loss <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ocratic power: <strong>the</strong> new<br />
charter lifted <strong>the</strong> Jamesian ban on <strong>of</strong>fice holding by non-con<strong>for</strong>mists. <strong>The</strong> argument that <strong>the</strong> trials were<br />
a diabolical pact made between blood-thirsty young girls and unscrupulous ministers runs aground<br />
when we consider that <strong>the</strong> Court was not controlled by <strong>the</strong> religious authorities – <strong>the</strong>y were instituted<br />
by a Governor whose loyalties were to himself, and certainly not to Salem Village's Church.<br />
<strong>The</strong> argument that <strong>the</strong> trials were so destructive due to <strong>the</strong> tensions unleashed by <strong>the</strong> integration<br />
<strong>of</strong> Salem Town and Village into <strong>the</strong> Imperial trans-Atlantic economy is considerably stronger. <strong>The</strong>se<br />
tensions certainly did exist, and <strong>the</strong> factions lined up on ei<strong>the</strong>r side <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> trial do appear to replicate <strong>the</strong><br />
split between <strong>the</strong> older agrarian interests (represented by <strong>the</strong> Putnam family and <strong>the</strong>ir assorted faction)<br />
and <strong>the</strong> newer mercantile interests (represented by <strong>the</strong> Porter and Proctor families). Certainly <strong>the</strong> fact<br />
that Ann Putnam, Sr. played such a pivotal role as an accuser lends itself to <strong>the</strong> interpretation that she<br />
saw <strong>the</strong> fear <strong>of</strong> witchcraft as an opportunity to wrest some power back towards her own people. But<br />
<strong>the</strong> attempts to locate <strong>the</strong> witch-trials as part <strong>of</strong> a larger story about <strong>the</strong> transition from an agricultural<br />
world to one based on merchants, trade and capital tell only part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> story. That transition had<br />
already occurred – by 1665, merchants outnumbered farmers among Salem Town's selectmen by a ratio<br />
<strong>of</strong> six to one. (Boyer and Nissenbaum, p. 87) By <strong>the</strong> time <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> trials, <strong>the</strong> better lands in <strong>the</strong> village, as<br />
well as <strong>the</strong> stronger links to <strong>the</strong> larger Empire through Salem harbor, resided in <strong>the</strong> hands <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Porter<br />
faction: if <strong>the</strong> witch-trials were a dying gasp <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Putnam family's agrarian domination over <strong>the</strong><br />
village, <strong>the</strong>n it was a dying gasp that came after <strong>the</strong> corpse was already cold. Doubtless, <strong>the</strong>se tensions<br />
did exist, and <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> reasons outlined above – but why did <strong>the</strong>se tensions boil over well past <strong>the</strong> point<br />
where <strong>the</strong>y could have done any good? And why would <strong>the</strong> colonial government, headed by men such<br />
as Phips (who was <strong>the</strong> Platonic ideal <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> self-made man) have collaborated with economic interests<br />
57 When men were accused <strong>the</strong>y tended to be ei<strong>the</strong>r 'cunning men' like Samuell Wardwell (already identified with magic<br />
and socially marginal) or relatives (fa<strong>the</strong>rs, sons, husbands, etc.) <strong>of</strong> those already accused. That <strong>the</strong> only person<br />
acquitted during examination was a man (Nehemiah Abbott Jr.) can hardly be seen as coincidental. (Roach, p. 90 – 1)<br />
But <strong>the</strong> Salem trials were not unique in this regard.<br />
58