Children Beware of Demons

Cotton Mather Gives Warning

Oct 15, 2006 Mary Trotter Kion

The children of Salem Village lived a strict and restricted life, controlled by adults. Cotton Mather warns all to be aware of demons among them.

The children of Salem, Massachusetts had no say in their young lives. They were burdened by the normal stresses of growing into adults with very little outlet for venting their often-confused emotions. This was especially true with the girls. The boys could hunt, shoot and be physically active. The girls surely found little solace for sorting out their pre-womanhood feelings while stitching samplers, doing housework, and preparing meals.

Abnormal Youthful Behavior Accepted

Compounding the normal mixed emotions of growing up, the youth of Salem were heavy laden with the stresses that were of adult making. And there were many of those among these pious people.

Even these strains alone, if there had been no other, for these Salem children, would in some cases cause certain children to finally 'act-out' and rebel against acceptable behavior. Strange it was, however, when a group of girls did vent their emotions to the utmost, their actions were accepted by many of Salem and Massachusetts' leading citizens.

Adults Help Light the Fuse

But the numerous and on-going stresses, all created by the adults of Salem Village, were enough alone to create a powder keg that surely, and did, blow its stopper and explode. Even the telling by Cotton Mather to these pious Puritans that there was joy "among the demons whenever a Puritan succumbed to temptation" had little effect.

Educating the Children

Many of the original Mayflower settlers, who arrived in America in 1620, had been educated people. However, by the year 1692, the education that the children received in Salem Village was not very thorough. It was believed that so long as the children were taught correct religious doctrine they would grow up to be good citizens. The teaching, of course, was from the Bible, and the children were told over and over again that only the greatest piety would save them from eternal damnation.

Holiday Celebrations

The children of the Puritans did not even have the pleasure of celebrating Christmas or Easter. These holidays were not observed because the church felt that they derived from pagan ideas, which in good part was true, and were not truly religious. The occasional holidays the children did get from school were given for a practical purpose, such as planting crops or getting in the harvest.

Recommended Reading:

The Devil Walked Among Them: Puritans, Witches, and Demons in Salem.

Growing Up in Salem, Massachusetts: Rebelling Against Adult Rule.

Sundays in Salem, Massachusetts:Droning Sermons and Hard Benches.

Cotton Mather: A Believer in Witchcraft.

Cotton Mather Condemns Witches: Salem and Boston.

Source:

Hill, Frances. A Delusion of Satan: The Full Story of the Salem Witch Trials. De Capo Press, 1995.

The copyright of the article Children Beware of Demons in American History is owned by Mary Trotter Kion. Permission to republish Children Beware of Demons in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.