Historical Detection

Paper Summary:

This paper studies historical detection, the use of modern technology and advanced psychological techniques to shed additional light on historical occurrences. Based on the book "After the Fact: the Art of Historical Detection" by J.W. Davidson and M.H. Lytle, the paper applies modern psychology and medicine to the examination of the witchcraft scare in the late seventeenth century in New England.

From the Paper:

"Later, social historians studied the everyday activities and commerce of the villagers in the area, using records indicating land ownership and places of residence. They found that at the time, some of the inhabitants of the original Old Town Salem had moved to outlying areas and were setting up another village, incurring the animosities of their neighbors. This explanation is dramatically confirmed when a map is used showing the location of the various persons known to have been involved in the cases: the accusers, the defenders and the accused. It was revealed that those accused of being witches and those who accused them lived on opposite ends of the town. Those who defended the accused lived closest to them, and can be presumed to be friends and neighbors. A study of the politics of the region confirms further that financial interests of the villagers were affected by the efforts of some to move out of the village and begin a settlement of their own. These historians believe that this could explain the intensity of the feelings of animosity that culminated in death for some of the accused witches. In the case of the activities of Salem, a contemporary study of historical documents viewed from a perspective of modern education in the fields of medicine, socio-political dynamics and religious studies has uncovered the answer to a question that has puzzled historians for more than two centuries."

More papers on Historical Detection:

• Book Review # 106543 : "After The Face: The Art of Historical Detection"
• Analytical Essay # 7391 : "Crime, Detection and Conan Doyle in 19th Century England"
• Essay # 2655 : "Origins and Detection of Latent Fingerprints"

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