The distinction between witchcraft and madness in colonial Connecticut.
This essay argues two points in regard to early New England: first, that witchcraft is not a significant aspect of the history of mental illness; and second, that seventeenth-century society had a cultural protocol for distinguishing one from the other. The examples discussed in detail are from Connecticut, but they are representative of colonial New England as a whole.
Goodheart
Lawrence B
LB
Department of History, University of Connecticut, USA. goodheart@snet.net
D018595:Colonialism / Q000266:history*; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000266:history*; D009511:New England; D014481:United States; D018599:Witchcraft / Q000266:history*