Chapter 2: The Visible and Invisible Worlds of Salem Summary and Analysis

One of the questions an historian must consider is the time frame to cover in explaining something historical. Something may appear isolated in time and location, but the events that precede and come after it may be of special significance to its interpretation. Of course practical considerations keep the historian from expanding the time frame too much, for as the time frame widens the more factors must be considered. Finding the right balance is part of the job of the historian. The authors use the Salem witch trials as an example.

The facts of the Salem witch trials are that for a period of about a year beginning in 1692 the people of Salem Village, Massachusetts engaged in a series of trials of people accused of witchcraft after...