1. The Crucible Act 1: The Overture a.k.a., What This is All About

2. Basic Historical Facts 1 Setting of the play: Salem, Massachusetts, 1692 A Puritan settlement about 40 years old. NOTE: The play The Crucible is based on historical events, but it is not history.

3. Basic Historical Facts 2 Setting: Salem, Massachusetts, 1692 A Puritan settlement about 40 years old. “Today we would hardly call it a village.” Total population no more than a few hundred people.

4. Basic Historical Facts 3 Setting: Salem, Massachusetts, 1692 A Puritan settlement about 40 years old. “Today we would hardly call it a village.” Total population no more than a few hundred people. This colony barely registered on the radar of Europe; governments there glad to be rid of “fanatics”

5. Theocracy 1 Definition: a form of government where religious authority and civil authority are the same. --> You WILL need to know this! In most of Massachusetts, religious beliefs held the power of law

6. Theocracy 2 In most of Massachusetts, religious beliefs held the power of law Not unknown even today: Iran, Saudi Arabia. In this type of government, violating the Ten Commandments, (for example) can get you thrown into jail.

7. Theocracy 3 “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” – Exodus 22:18, the King James Bible They took this literally, just like the rest of the Bible. Persecutions for witchcraft a bit of a fad at the time in Europe

8. “We Are God’s Chidren” 1 The ancestors of Salem’s inhabitants left Europe for religious freedom; they didn’t allow any of it among their own people.

9. “We Are God’s Chidren” 2 The ancestors of Salem’s inhabitants left Europe for religious freedom; they didn’t allow any of it among their own people. They willingly gave up their own freedom for two reasons: –1) Sincere religious belief

10. “We Are God’s Chidren” 3 The ancestors of Salem’s inhabitants left Europe for religious freedom; they didn’t allow any of it among their own people. They willingly gave up their own freedom for two reasons: –1) Sincere religious belief –2) The need to be united against outside threats to their survival

11. “We Are God’s Chidren” 4 Social unity + strict moral codes requiring hard work = greater chance of survival in the New World (Arthur Miller compares them favorably to Jamestown)

12. An “Armed Camp” King Phillip's War – 1675-1678; killed a large percentage of the white people in New England

13. An “Armed Camp” King Phillip's War – 1675-1678; killed a significant percentage of the white people in New England Hostility from Native Americans towards whites universal after this Indian attacks common, no one very safe