Herrick The marshal of Salem Essay Example

Herrick The marshal of Salem Paper Mr Hale is nearly 40, tight-skinned, eager-eyed intellectual. A young minister reputed to be an expert on witchcraft. Mr Hale is called in to Salem to examine Parriss daughter Betty. His intimate liking toward Proctor actually stuns we, as readers, that a third party could be so understanding and is able to try and console those in need. In this case, Hale actually proves to be a upright citizen who tries to save Proctor from the noose by advising him to succumb to a false crime. His intentions were good like a committed Christian and hater of witchcraft. It is his assurance that we cannot look to superstition in this. The Devil is precise. His critical mind and intelligence save him from falling into blind fervor. His arrival sets the hysteria in motion, although he later regrets his actions and attempts to save the lives of those accused. Elizabeth Proctor Elizabeth does not appear until the beginning of Act Two. She is referred to beforehand, notably in a scathing comment by Abigail. When we first hear her, though, she is singing lullabies to her children, giving us the impression of a homely woman. The atmosphere in the Proctor household tells us that she has had difficulty in coming to terms with her husbands brief adultery. She is accused by both Proctor and Abigail of being cold and she confirms this opinion of herself in the last act. But she is no fool and understands well Abigails intentions, well before Proctor himself does. Her love and understanding of John is crystal clear in the last act when she leaves him to make his own decision over whether to confess. We will write a custom essay sample on Herrick The marshal of Salem specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Herrick The marshal of Salem specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Herrick The marshal of Salem specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer She undoubtedly recognizes that he will not be able to live with a decision to confess, but she allows him to come to his own realisation of this. Danforth Deputy Governor Danforth represents both the authority of the Law and the Church within this community. He takes his position seriously and seizes every opportunity to impress the importance of his work upon others. This is reflected in some of the long, serious speeches he gives in Act Three. His determination to enforce the Law is unrelenting. He is not interested in the individual and will not allow the work of the court to be questioned. His manner is inflexible and unemotional. It is impossible to tell why he does not accept the horror of the situation. Does he actually believe all that the girls allege? Or does he think that events have gone too far, but to stop the process would undermine his authority? Proctor has no doubt that Danforth is allowing himself to be fooled, and that he will be damned because of it Giles Corley An elderly but feisty farmer in Salem, famous for his tendency to file lawsuits. Giless wife, Martha, is accused of witchcraft, and he himself is eventually held in con-tempt of court and pressed to death with large stones. As the start of the play, Corey is something of a comic character and Proctor deals with his argumentative tendency is a good-natured way. He unwittingly implicates his wife in witchcraft, and whilst protesting to the court refuses to name an informant, and so is arrested himself. The grim manner of his death being pressed by great weights to try to force an answer is poignantly revealed to Proctor in jail. The Putnams A bitter couple, who between them represent the worst aspects of Salem society such as jealously, small-mindedness and greed, it was Ann Putnam that sent her daughter to conjure spirits in the first place and Thomas Putnam sought to gain from the tragedy of others. Thomas Putnam A wealthy, influential citizen of Salem, Putnam holds a grudge against Francis Nurse for preventing Putnams brother-in-law from being elected to the office of minister. He uses the witch trials to increase his own wealth by accusing people of witchcraft and then buying up their land. Ann Putnam Thomas Putnams wife. Ann Putnam has given birth to eight children, but only Ruth Putnam survived. The other seven died before they were a day old, and Ann is con-vinced that they were murdered by supernatural means. Ruth Putnam The Putnams lone surviving child out of eight. Like Betty Parris, Ruth falls into a strange stupor after Reverend Parris catches her and the other girls dancing in the woods at night. Rebecca Nurse Francis nurses wife, the elderly and respected Rebecca is a wise, sensible, and upright woman, held in tremendous regard by most of the Salem community, and one of the voices of good sense in the play. Hale has already heard of her good reputation before meeting her. However, she falls victim to the hysteria when the Putnams accuse her of witchcraft and she refuses to confess. The conviction of Rebecca reveals how low the community at Salem has fallen. She goes to her death with dignity and acceptance Francis Nurse A wealthy, influential man in Salem. Nurse is well respected by most people in Salem, but is an enemy of Thomas Putnam and his wife. Mary Warren Mary is the Proctors servant. She is weak and easily influenced, so it is ominous that Proctors evidence rests on Marys confession. She can barely speak in the courtroom and its relatively simple for Abigail to turn her. This is devastating for Proctor as Mary then testifies against him. Tituba Reverend Parriss black slave from Barbados. Tituba agrees to perform voodoo at Abigails request Betty Parris Reverend Parriss ten-year-old daughter. Betty falls into a strange stupor after Parris catches her and the other girls dancing in the forest with Tituba. Her illness and that of Ruth Putnam fuel the first rumors of witchcraft. Martha Corey Giles Coreys third wife. Marthas reading habits lead to her arrest and conviction for witchcraft. Ezekiel Cheever A man from Salem who acts as clerk of the court during the witch trials. He is upright and determined to do his duty for justice. Judge Hathorne A judge who presides, along with Danforth, over the witch trials. Herrick The marshal of Salem. Mercy Lewis Servant to the Putnam household. She is a merciless girl who seems to delight in the girls activities. The threats Abigail uses on the other girls are unnecessary for Mercy. When Abigail eventually leaves town, Mercy goes with her.

The Freedmens Bureau - Agency to Assist Former Slaves

The Freedmen's Bureau - Agency to Assist Former Slaves The Freedmens Bureau was created by the U.S. Congress near the end of the Civil War as an agency to deal with the enormous humanitarian crisis brought about by the war. Throughout the South, where most of the fighting had taken place, cities and towns were devastated. The economic system was virtually nonexistent, railroads had been destroyed, and farms had been neglected or destroyed. And four million recently freed slaves were faced with new realities of life. On March 3, 1865, the Congress created the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. Commonly known as the Freedmens Bureau, its original charter was for one year, though it was reorganized within the war department in July 1866. The Goals of the Freedmens Bureau The Freedmens Bureau was envisioned as an agency wielding enormous power over the South. An editorial in the New York Times published on February 9, 1865, when the original bill for the creation of the bureau was being introduced in Congress, said the proposed agency would be: ... a separate department, responsible alone to the President, and supported by military power from him, to take charge of the abandoned and forfeited lands of the rebels, settle them with freedmen, guard the interests of these latter, aid in adjusting wages, in enforcing contracts, and in protecting these unfortunate people from injustice, and securing them their liberty. The task before such an agency would be immense. The four million newly freed blacks in the South were mostly uneducated and illiterate (as a result of laws regulating slavery), and a major focus of the Freedmens Bureau would be setting up schools to educate former slaves. An emergency system of feeding the population was also an immediate problem, and food rations would be distributed to the starving. It has been estimated that the Freedmens Bureau distributed 21 million food rations, with five million being given to white southerners. The program of redistributing land, which was an original goal for the Freedmens Bureau was thwarted by presidential orders. The promise of Forty Acres and a Mule, which many freedmen believed they would receive from the U.S. government, went unfulfilled. General Oliver Otis Howard Was Commissioner of the Freedmens Bureau The man chose to head the Freemens Bureau, Union General Oliver Otis Howard, was a graduate of Bowdoin College in Maine as well as the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Howard had served throughout the Civil War, and lost his right arm in combat at the Battle of Fair Oaks, in Virginia, in 1862. While serving under Gen. Sherman during the famous March to the Sea in late 1864, Gen. Howard witnessed the many thousands of former slaves who followed Shermans troops on the advance through Georgia. Knowing of his concern for the freed slaves, President Lincoln had chosen him to be the first commissioner of the Freedmens Bureau (though Lincoln was assassinated before the job was officially offered). General Howard, who was 34 years old when he accepted the position at the Freedmens Bureau, got to work in the summer of 1865. He quickly organized the Freedmens Bureau into geographical divisions to oversee the various states. A U.S. Army officer of high rank was usually placed in charge of each division, and Howard was able to request personnel from the Army as needed. In that respect the Freedmens Bureau was a powerful entity, as its actions could be enforced by the U.S. Army, which still had a considerable presence in the South. The Freedmens Bureau Was Essentially the Government in the Defeated Confederacy When the Freedmens Bureau began operations, Howard and his officers had to essentially set up a new government in the states that had made up the Confederacy. At the time, there were no courts and virtually no law. With the backing of the U.S. Army, the Freedmens Bureau was generally successful in establishing order. However, in the late 1860s there were eruptions of lawlessness, with organized gangs, including the Ku Klux Klan, attacking blacks and whites affiliated with the Freedmens Bureau. In Gen. Howards autobiography, which he published in 1908, he devoted a chapter to the struggle against the Ku Klux Klan. Land Redistribution Did Not Happen As Intended One area in which the Freedmens Bureau did not live up to its mandate was in the area of distributing land to former slaves. Despite the rumors that families of freedmen would receive forty acres of land to farm, the lands which would have been distributed were instead returned to those who had owned the land before the Civil War by order of President Andrew Johnson. In Gen. Howards autobiography he described how he personally attended a meeting in Georgia in late 1865 at which he had to inform former slaves who had been settled onto farms that the land was being taken away from them. The failure to set former slaves up on their own farms condemned many of them to lives as impoverished sharecroppers. The Educational Programs of the Freedmens Bureau Were a Success A major focus of the Freedmens Bureau was the education of former slaves, and in that area it was generally considered a success. As many slaves had been forbidden to learn to read and write, there was a widespread need for literacy education. A number of charitable organizations set up schools, and the Freedmens Bureau even arranged for textbooks to be published. Despite incidents in which teachers were attacked and schools burned in the South, hundreds of schools were opened in the late 1860s and early 1870s. General Howard had a great interest in education, and in the late 1860s he helped to found Howard University in Washington, D.C., a historically black college which was named in his honor. Legacy of the Freedmens Bureau Most of the work of the Freedmens Bureau ended in 1869, except for its educational work, which continued until 1872. During its existence, the Freedmens Bureau was criticized for being an enforcement arm of the Radical Republicans in Congress. Virulent critics in the South condemned it constantly. And employees of the Freedmens Bureau were at times physically attacked and even murdered. Despite the criticism, the work the Freedmens Bureau accomplished, especially in its educational endeavors, was necessary, especially considering the dire situation of the South at the end of the war.