The Master Network

The Master Network, shown in Figure 1, graphs all the interactions of the Salem Witch Trials based on the 1692-93 court records.  In these documents, any clear or implied interaction is counted as a relationship.  For example, when Mercy Lewis accuses Elizabeth Procter of witchcraft, there is a relationship between the two.  The relationship may have occurred prior to 1692, but it also might not have since analysis of the documents suggests not all accused suspects were known to their accusers.  At the very least, the relationship occurred in 1692.  The other classification of relationships are the implied ones.  The social nature of the trials and legal proceedings created relationships through the process of accusations.  In this network, people who played in active role in the proceedings while in the same room are connected.  For example, William Wormwood and Elizabeth Hubbard both actively participated in the examination of George Burroughs through Wormwood's testimony and Hubbard's accusation.  Since both people were definitively in the same room at the same time to play an active role in the examination, a network formed that matters in the explanation of the witch trials.    The people who charged neighbors, and even strangers, with witchcraft created recognizable networks as well as those who defended their family members and friends.