Salem (MA)

Salem, like many other New England settlements, was initially founded as a popular theocracy—government rested in the hands of church members. Those who did not belong to the settlement’s approved church, originally a group few in number, did not have rights of citizenship. An oath such as this one…

<p><span class="deck">Nathaniel was poor and sunk in his solitude; Sophia seemed a hopeless invalid, but a late-flower love gave them at last “a perfect Eden.”</span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> Did the fifty-five statesmen meeting in Philadelphia at the Constitutional Convention know that a witch-hunt was taking place while they deliberated? Did they care?</span> </p>

<p><span class="deck"> <span class="typestyle"> Eight generations back, the author discovered a forebear hanging on the family tree</span> </span></p>

<p><span class="deck"> Salem found its fortune in the East Indies trade</span> </p>