New England: Why are the Salem Witch Trials now entirely associated with Salem, and not at all with Danvers, where the alleged acts of witchcraft occurred?

by 45degreebottle

Does Salem just have a keener appetite for tourism? No criticism — they are both lovely towns and well worth visiting.

irishpatobie

First, I think to say "not at all with Danvers" is a bit of stretch. After all, the Rebecca Nurse Homestead still stands today as a historic colonial house in Danvers, and while the Salem Witch Museum is in the town of Salem, Danvers also receives a number of tourists during the Halloween season.

To your question: the reason the witch trials are most commonly associated with Salem as opposed to Danvers is that the town of Danvers was not an incorporated town until the 1750s, sixty years after the famous trials took place. Therefore, not only during the trials, but in the decades following, colonial Americans could only refer to the events as occurring in Salem. The stories of the famous trials of Salem were popular up and down the eastern seaboard as well as in Europe and the Caribbean by the early eighteenth century.

If you follow the "class conflict" theory concerning the witch trials themselves, the split between western Salem Village (which would become Danvers) and coastal Salem is an important one. According to this argument, the vast majority of accusers came from Salem Village (Danvers) and made claims against people of eastern Salem. The argument posits that these accusations were directed at the more wealthy elite by western settlers envious of their land/wealth. During the population boom of the mid-eighteenth century, a number of western districts formed their own towns citing political and economic differences with their coastal neighbors.

There has been some very good stuff posted on here about the witch trials. I would advise you to read here for more:

u/danhowlett1692 podcast on Salem

u/TheTorontoKid Defense of Witches

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