History of Witch-Hunts in U.S

3 Credits · Level: Graduate

As proposed in the nation’s Declaration of Independence, “government by the people” was built on the premise that the people could be trusted to govern in a free and open society. Underscoring that premise was the belief that such a nation had a special destiny that could only be defeated by internal corruption. The fear of such an “enemy within” arrived with the first settlers and has persisted in the nation’s history in “witch-hunts” once focused on those actually believed to be witches, but that have continued long after we – or at least most of us – have ceased to believe in witches. The ever popular, and often misunderstood, Salem witch trials, will serve as a case study, but the course will begin centuries earlier and continue down to the present time. In each case, common themes will be identified, and lessons drawn, as to causes and effects of witch-hunts that continue to threaten the premises on which the nation was founded.