Chapter 3

While I was reading this chapter about how the colonial societies came about, I had a sudden realization that this is the first time in my fourteen years of schooling that I have read a textbook that has such an objective view. In elementary school we learn about the hard work that these first settlers had to go through to build up our colonies, then in high school and college we kind of learn the truth behind the total number of deaths that was brought to the New World after the colonies have been built, but never have I read a textbook that seems to explain both sides of the story until now.

There were two sections of today’s reading that stuck out to me the most. The section that stuck out to me the most was the reading about Anne Hutchinson. This is my first time reading or hearing about her and it’s crazy to think about how I have taken so many history courses before this, and never once was she mention until now. I would think that Anne Hutchinson would be considered a role model for kids these days because she was a woman that challenged the men around her. She did not believe that her rightful place should be besides a man, and she made sure everybody around her knew that she was a woman before her time. I found it inspiring that the clergy found her intimidating because before her no woman has ever stood up to men. The only reasoning that I could come up with as to why she was never listed in any textbooks written before is because so many textbooks were poorly written. Our history textbooks were not written objectively, and the people that wrote them placed their own views and objectives into these books. I constantly have to remind myself that there is always more to the stories than meet the eyes.

The next section that really stood out to me was the part written about the Salem Witchcraft. This is a story that I have heard numerous times but never really understood. I’ve always wondered about how the witchcraft rumors came about, and this section finally gave me so insights as to what was going on. The authors wrote that several girls of the Salem Village asked Tituba, a slave, to talk about fortunes and sorcery and that was when the women of the villages started to act strange. This peaked my curiosity because I want to know what kind of behavioral changes made its way around the colony and how did they come up with witchcraft.  I want to believe that because of the different religious beliefs the colonists viewed the slaves way or worship as sorcery. I feel like the only reason why the Salem Witchcraft got so big was because people were placing blame on one another. Usually when something out of the ordinary pops up, people don’t want to feel the brute of the force and that is why others are dragged into the problem, and the Salem Witchcraft Trails were no different. If William Phelps didn’t forbid anymore trials, I wonder how many more innocent people may have died over a misunderstanding.