loveshistory1misc

Perhaps to understand what may have led the children of Salem Village to act as they did, a glimpse into their childhoods may be necessary.

Pastor John Robinson  spoke about the innate natural pride found within humanity.  This stumbling block was an impediment to the growth of the virtues, thus strict discipline was necessary to crush it.

This breaking of a child’s will was to begin as the end of the first year of life.  Imagine the shock of the child.  From birth to the end of its first year, the child would know total indulgence - warmth, comfort, food on demand.  After that, harsh reality now enters the picture.

As the child developed, it would begin training as a small adult, slowly forced to take the chores expected of adults.  Boys would bond with their fathers, learning the tasks of their dads, and the same would hold true for daughters - they would follow and learn from their mothers.

Early Massachusetts was an agricultural community for the most part.  However, the coastline of New England afforded the settlers with other means of earning a living.  Trade, fishing, logging, and ship building to name a few areas of possibilities were available.

For the most part, however, Salem Village was an agricultural community with some who earned their livelihood via the sea.

Education in the formal sense, as today, was not mandatory.  However, most Puritans knew how to read well enough to read their Bibles.  Men’s education, for some, moved into more advanced realms as their livelihoods mandated, or if they had an opportunity to advance into further intellectual training.

This was not the case for women.  Hearth and home were the established parameters during this time.  If a woman’s husband died.  She either remained a widow or remarried.

Unless she was given some sort of support after the death of her husband, more than likely she would need to remarry in order to survive.

Thus, there was little room for young people to maneuver in, especially if you were born female.  Children  grew up taking on the roles of their parents.  If dad was a farmer, more than likely, the son would become a farmer.  If dad was a fisherman, more than likely his son would become a fisherman.

Marriage and motherhood were the acceptable spheres for the female half of the population.  Life was simple in the regards of one’s vocation.

Source

John Demos,  A Little Commonwealth Family Life in Plymouth Colony, Oxford University Press 198 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10016, 2000, pgs. 128-150.