In this activity, you will learn more about three individuals who played an important role in the Salem witch trials—Cotton Mather, Sarah Good, and Anne Putnam. You will read a brief biography about each person and some primary source information related to each person. You will also answer a few questions to evaluate the credibility of the information in each source. Cotton Mather was a powerful Boston clergyman whose ideas about witchcraft influenced many of the judges at the trials.

Primary resource: In 1689, Mather published Memorable Providences, Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions, an account of a witchcraft case in Boston.

Mather calls himself an eyewitness to the event. Do you think eyewitness accounts are always believable? Why or why not? Write your answer in 50 to 75 words.