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| | In 1692, the [[Salem Witch Trials]] began. There was a panic that some teenage girls were practicing witchcraft. Girls were prosecuted for this. Some were convicted and then executed. The authorities thought that these criminal prosecutions would help expose the ways of the devil for the benefit of everyone. Then someone observed that killing all these people may itself the work of the devil. Finally one of the accused said that the wife of the governor was also a witch. Then the authorities put a stop to the prosecutions and freed everyone who was still alive. The whole episode was an embarrassment to the [[Puritan]]s in charge, and has been cited ever since as an excess of religious authority in civil life. But this episode did not directly weaken [[Puritan]] authority. Instead, it was success and prosperity, and books like The Scarlet Letter (published in 1850 to criticize morality in Puritan Boston in the 1600s), that caused people to turn away from the strict Puritan life. Today Boston and Massachusetts are the most liberal areas in the nation, directly opposite to what it was in the 1600s. | | In 1692, the [[Salem Witch Trials]] began. There was a panic that some teenage girls were practicing witchcraft. Girls were prosecuted for this. Some were convicted and then executed. The authorities thought that these criminal prosecutions would help expose the ways of the devil for the benefit of everyone. Then someone observed that killing all these people may itself the work of the devil. Finally one of the accused said that the wife of the governor was also a witch. Then the authorities put a stop to the prosecutions and freed everyone who was still alive. The whole episode was an embarrassment to the [[Puritan]]s in charge, and has been cited ever since as an excess of religious authority in civil life. But this episode did not directly weaken [[Puritan]] authority. Instead, it was success and prosperity, and books like The Scarlet Letter (published in 1850 to criticize morality in Puritan Boston in the 1600s), that caused people to turn away from the strict Puritan life. Today Boston and Massachusetts are the most liberal areas in the nation, directly opposite to what it was in the 1600s. |
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| − | '''Debate''': What, if anything, is precisely wrong about having witch trials? | + | '''Debate: What, if anything, is precisely wrong about having witch trials?''' |
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| | == Salutary Neglect and the Zenger Trial == | | == Salutary Neglect and the Zenger Trial == |
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| | The trial also established an important power of the jury to ignore the law and hold in favor of a defendant even though the law says he is guilty. This is known as “jury nullification”. | | The trial also established an important power of the jury to ignore the law and hold in favor of a defendant even though the law says he is guilty. This is known as “jury nullification”. |
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| − | '''Debate''': Do you think a jury should be able to ignore the law in order to find a defendant “not guilty”? | + | '''Debate: Do you think a jury should be able to ignore the law in order to find a defendant "not guilty?"''' |
| | <br><br> | | <br><br> |
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| | George Washington is the most honored person in all of American history. Why was he so great? Was he so great? He was not a brilliant man. He was not a great military general. In terms of military strategy, he was not particularly good. He was inept during the French and Indian War, for example. He did not write anything of value. | | George Washington is the most honored person in all of American history. Why was he so great? Was he so great? He was not a brilliant man. He was not a great military general. In terms of military strategy, he was not particularly good. He was inept during the French and Indian War, for example. He did not write anything of value. |
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| − | '''Debate''': [[George Washington]]. Was he great, and if so, why? | + | '''Debate: [[George Washington]]. Was he great, and if so, why?''' |
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| | == French and Indian War == | | == French and Indian War == |
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| | Feeling the strength of the colonies once again, Britain repealed the Townshend Acts, but the tea tax remained. | | Feeling the strength of the colonies once again, Britain repealed the Townshend Acts, but the tea tax remained. |
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| − | '''Debate''': should England have been able to impose direct taxes on the colonies? | + | '''Debate: should England have been able to impose direct taxes on the colonies?''' |
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| | In 1770, in what became known as the "Boston Massacre," British troops shot and killed a colonial mob for throwing snowballs (with rocks in them) at them. (The future President John Adams then served as the defense attorney for the British soldiers, and obtained "not guilty" (acquittal) verdicts for them because they were provoked into shooting.) | | In 1770, in what became known as the "Boston Massacre," British troops shot and killed a colonial mob for throwing snowballs (with rocks in them) at them. (The future President John Adams then served as the defense attorney for the British soldiers, and obtained "not guilty" (acquittal) verdicts for them because they were provoked into shooting.) |