“Most Intollerable Out-Cries & Agonies”: A Comparison and Analyzation of Witchcraft Trials, Emotions, and Society in Colonial Virginia and Colonial Massachusetts

This thesis examines witchcraft cases in colonial Virginia and colonial Massachusetts through both a comparative and emotional lens, the latter of which is an approach rarely applied to the study and historiography of colonial North American witchcraft. It traces the emotional dynamics embedded within key societal forces, including religious institutions, gender dynamics, governmental and judicial systems, and slavery, to reveal how these factors shaped the prevalence and nature of witch trials in each colony. By juxtaposing the emotional undercurrents expressed through the societal factors of Virginia against those of Massachusetts, this study illuminates why Massachusetts experienced a far greater number of trials than its southern counterpart. Drawing upon personal narratives, trial records, judicial documents, and religious texts, this thesis concludes with the idea that while heightened emotions intertwined with superstition could lead to conviction in Virginian witchcraft cases, several mitigating factors, such as less religiously charged gender dynamics and government, a more restrained judicial system, and a conduit of control centered on African enslaved individuals instead of their own white, legal citizens that prevented emotional fervor from spiraling out of control. In Virginia, emotional outbreaks lacked institutional amplification, thereby curbing the potential for widespread witch trials. In contrast, in Massachusetts, heightened emotions collided with an intense religious environment, a religiously-driven gender dynamic, zealous magistrates, and the presence of enslaved individuals whose testimony Puritan elites could manipulate to reinforce Puritan narratives. Under such conditions, emotions became magnified instead of contained, fueling a much greater number of witchcraft cases. Ultimately, this thesis situates witchcraft trials within a broader emotional and societal context, demonstrating that emotions were not peripheral but central to understanding historical actors, behaviors, and events. By foregrounding the emotional experiences of historical actors, this work seeks to restore agency to the voices that history has too often silenced, distorted, and ignored.