"The New England conscience...does not stop you from doing what you shouldn't - it just stops you from enjoying it." Cleveland Amory

There are few things as perplexing as the study of the "New England conscience." Our thinking is, or should be, rooted in this ethical tradition.

Are we, like Thoreau and Emerson, at the forefront of philosophical thinking? Or are we dullards, living in a philosophical backwater? Have our values changed over the centuries, or have they been constant?

New Englanders typically flatter themselves by taking credit for the American Revolution, the Romantic and Transcendental movements, the abolition of slavery, philosophical pragmatism, even the creation of sliced bread. Those from other parts of the country see us as obnoxious, cranky, hypocritical, and cheap.

The truth lies somewhere in between. There are two dominant themes that emerge from a study of New England thinking: The rejection of Puritanism, and a resulting spirit of inventiveness.

New England inventiveness is personified by one of my personal heroes. Chester Greenwood, the legendary inventor of the earmuff, was an Oxford County native, His brilliance saved literally millions of cold and raw ears from frostbite. However, his story must wait for another day.

Today, we look at Puritanism, specifically the "Last Puritan," Cotton Mather. In The Life and Times of Cotton Mather, Kenneth Silverman examines Mather's complex life, and the resulting history of New England. This important book compares the history of early New England with the subsequent history of revolutionary New England. The comparison shows how we transformed from a land of faith and tyranny into a land of reason, commerce and science.

During the first hundred years, New Englanders rejected the idea of political freedom, and the idea of commercial society. Puritans saw human nature as, (not to mince words), evil. To paraphrase, life stunk. For all but a tiny minority of saints, after this lousy life, we die. Although it is difficult to understand how this appealing philosophy died out, we must try.

Like other philosophical pessimists, such as Hobbes, Machiavelli, and Freud, Puritans believed human nature was unchangeable. Puritans tried to eliminate natural desires for power and aggression. They suppressed all efforts at rebellion. The Puritans' solution was strict conformity, based on rigid moral codes. These codes were enforced by an all-powerful theocratic ministry.

New Englanders, like sassy children, have never liked theocratic ministries. They didn't like them in 1650, and they don't like them now. We like to argue, backstab, and criticize.

Eventually, Puritanism was overthrown in New England. Since this overthrow, we have never gone back. We have held firm to democracy, and the spirit of the Declaration of Independence.

Why did we reject Puritanism, and its leader, Cotton Mather? Have we retained any of our Puritan heritage? Why have we held true to our resulting democratic roots?

Three words: Salem Witch Trials.

In 1692, Mather, Boston's leading Puritan Minister, wrote an article to warn the faithful. The pamphlet was called Memorable Providences. It described the story of several Boston adolescents who experienced "strange fits."

Mather came to believe that Goody Glover, an "ignorant and scandalous old woman," somehow caused the fits. His reasoning seemed natural enough: whenever the kids were near Goody, they started acting up. Goody liked to curse. She also liked to play with dolls - voodoo dolls, with pins in them. Based on this overwhelming evidence, and a series of lengthy interviews with the victims, Mather ultimately concluded that Goody was a witch.

After Mather's article began to circulate in New England, preachers started warning the faithful about witches. Other young girls, and a few boys, began to experience similar fits. These fits usually occurred when the youngsters were near powerless women. Eventually, a group of girls in Salem accused three women of being witches: a slave, an old woman, and a beggar, Sarah Good. They were quickly tried.

The judges at the witch trials, took their lead from Mather,. Based on his analysis, they allowed proof of witchcraft through the use of "spectral evidence." Spectral evidence consisted of the accuser's testimony that he or she saw ghostlike images of the accused haunting the accuser. (You'll be happy to note that since the Daubert and Kumho rulings. spectral evidence is no longer allowed in Maine courtrooms.)

Tragically, several hundred people were either accused or jailed as witches. On one day alone, eight of nine accused witches were hanged. Over the course of that terrible year, 19 men and women were executed.

Silverman has a powerful explanation for both the fits and the hysteria of the witch trials:

"When read in the context of a society that demanded utter submission from the young, Cotton Mather's account of the Goodwin children becomes a tale of sassy adolescents who loathed washing their hands, going to bed or doing their chores. ... "

(Ironically, the author's children do not like washing their hands, going to bed, or doing their chores).

Puritan religious life angered these children. Rebellion was, however, not permitted.

Reforms enacted after the trials took away much of the power of the ministry. This rebellious generation of New Englanders, led by Franklin, John Adams, Sam Adams, and John Hancock, eventually became the revolutionary generation. Based on the recent events in New England, they insisted on separation of church and state, a free press, freedom from arbitrary arrest, and freedom of expression. Freed from theocracy, and conformity, the founding fathers believed that human society would steadily improve, so long as it was free and well educated. Ironically, these same Founding Fathers accepted the moral teachings of Mather, so long as they could do so voluntarily, on their own terms.
If there is a historical positive resulting from our Puritan heritage, it is that religious and intellectual freedom became essential. The liberties of America were enacted in response to the religious horrors of Europe and America in the seventeenth century.

Those horrors still exist. Repression will not work. It never has.