The Quaker witch trial and the socio-political context of witch hunts

 

With Hallowe'en just around the corner, I'd like to reflect on the socio-political context of witches and witch hunts. I'd like to start my reflection on witch hunts with a true story about the only Quaker witchcraft trial known to have occurred. The year was 1684, and the name of the woman accused of witchcraft was Margaret Mattson. Margaret and her husband arrived in what is today called Pennsylvania before William Penn, and they were Swedish, and along with their neighbors, made up the first group of immigrants to settle along the lower Delaware River. They soon would be displaced by the ever more numerous English settlers who followed Penn. Their being “foreigners” was probably a significant cause of this accusation.

Margaret’s neighbors accused her of being a witch and she was brought before William Penn who served as magistrate. Penn didn’t believe in witches, but there was a law against witchcraft in England and he was legally required to question her, so he asked: “Do you fly on a broomstick?” She didn’t understand his question so she said, “Yes.” Penn responded, “That isn’t a crime. Case dismissed.”

This story illustrates how Quakers did not buy into the myth that women who are different are somehow evil. Perhaps that’s why so many powerful women leaders have emerged from the Quaker movement.

Historically, witch hunts have been a way for the patriarchy to target women who are “different” and challenge the norms.  

Historian Christina Larner  estimates that about 80 percent of those accused of witchcraft in the European witch hunts of the 16th and 17th centuries were women. At the same time, the witch hunters were overwhelmingly male.

According to Erin Cassese, McCarthy’s anti-communist witch hunts also tended to target women. Women were overrepresented among defendants in federal loyalty cases, and agencies that employed a disproportionately large share of women were often singled out for close scrutiny. Historian Landon Storrs notes that evidence presented against female defendants took on a distinctively gendered tone. For example, keeping one’s maiden name, “needlessly” holding a high-paying job while married, and having a “dominant personality” were all grounds for suspicion of communist sympathizing, ostensibly because communists eschewed traditional gender roles.

Today the term “witch hunt” has renewed cultural and political resonance, largely because it’s one of President Trump’s preferred strategies for deflecting criticism and mobilizing his base. Since assuming office, Trump has tweeted some variant of the phrase “WITCH HUNT!” innumerable times.

As  so common in Trump world, Trump inverts the conventional usage and casts himself as the victim. Unlike in the past, the term “witch hunt” is often invoked defensively by men in positions of power and authority. Recent events show that men with political and economic power can often rely on the idea of witch hunts to work for them, not against them. The witch hunt still uses institutional authority to enforce traditional gender norms and power relations.

I think that Hallowe’en is a good time to unmask the ugly face of patriarchy which has persecuted women throughout history for being different, for defying gender norms, and for challenging accepted beliefs. Let’s not allow these perpetrators of violence against women to portray themselves as the victims.