{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/31667"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/31667","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"\"Under an Ill Tongue\": Witchcraft and Religion in Seventeenth-Century Virginia","abstract":"This project analyzes the role of religion, both institutional and private, in Virginia's dealings with witchcraft during the seventeenth century. The witch trials of New England and Europe during the 1600s have tended to overshadow those that simultaneously took place in Virginia, leaving historians to prematurely regard Virginia as an anomaly of rationality in an otherwise superstitious period of witches and demons. Virginia's failure to prosecute those accused of witchcraft was not due to a lack of allegations, my thesis will argue, but can instead be partly attributed to the nature of the colony's religious experience and the theology and practices of Virginia's Anglican Church. While Virginia's seventeenth-century inhabitants migrated to the New World with firmly entrenched English religious values, their relationship with God and their response to the supernatural world were profoundly influenced by New World experiences and peoples. To protect the social fragility of their colony, Virginia's political and religious leaders consciously chose to prosecute offenses that they felt threatened the social cohesion of the colony, such as fornication, gossip, and slander, and dismissed those, such as witchcraft, that threatened to tear it apart.","abstract_html":"This project analyzes the role of religion, both institutional and private, in Virginia's dealings with witchcraft during the seventeenth century. The witch trials of New England and Europe during the 1600s have tended to overshadow those that simultaneously took place in Virginia, leaving historians to prematurely regard Virginia as an anomaly of rationality in an otherwise superstitious period of witches and demons. Virginia's failure to prosecute those accused of witchcraft was not due to a lack of allegations, my thesis will argue, but can instead be partly attributed to the nature of the colony's religious experience and the theology and practices of Virginia's Anglican Church. While Virginia's seventeenth-century inhabitants migrated to the New World with firmly entrenched English religious values, their relationship with God and their response to the supernatural world were profoundly influenced by New World experiences and peoples. To protect the social fragility of their colony, Virginia's political and religious leaders consciously chose to prosecute offenses that they felt threatened the social cohesion of the colony, such as fornication, gossip, and slander, and dismissed those, such as witchcraft, that threatened to tear it apart.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Newman, Lindsey M."],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"History","degree_department":"History","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Shifflett, Crandall A."],"committee_members":["Shadle, Brett L.","Stoudt, Debra L."],"year":2009,"date_issued":"2009-04-03","date_published":"2009-04-03","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:49Z","subjects":["Virginia -- Religious Life and Customs","Virginia – Religion -- Seventeenth Century","Virginia -- Church History -- Seventeenth Century","Church of England – Virginia – History – Seventeen","Witchcraft – Virginia – History -- Seventeenth Century"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-04092009-110353"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-04092009-110353","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/31667","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Shifflett, Crandall A."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Shadle, Brett L.","Stoudt, Debra L."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["History"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Newman, Lindsey M."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-03-14T20:33:18Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-03-14T20:33:18Z","2009-05-11"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2009-04-03"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["History"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Virginia -- Religious Life and Customs","Virginia – Religion -- Seventeenth Century","Virginia -- Church History -- Seventeenth Century","Church of England – Virginia – History – Seventeen","Witchcraft – Virginia – History -- Seventeenth Century"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-04092009-110353"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/31667"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This project analyzes the role of religion, both institutional and private, in Virginia's dealings with witchcraft during the seventeenth century. The witch trials of New England and Europe during the 1600s have tended to overshadow those that simultaneously took place in Virginia, leaving historians to prematurely regard Virginia as an anomaly of rationality in an otherwise superstitious period of witches and demons. Virginia's failure to prosecute those accused of witchcraft was not due to a lack of allegations, my thesis will argue, but can instead be partly attributed to the nature of the colony's religious experience and the theology and practices of Virginia's Anglican Church. While Virginia's seventeenth-century inhabitants migrated to the New World with firmly entrenched English religious values, their relationship with God and their response to the supernatural world were profoundly influenced by New World experiences and peoples. To protect the social fragility of their colony, Virginia's political and religious leaders consciously chose to prosecute offenses that they felt threatened the social cohesion of the colony, such as fornication, gossip, and slander, and dismissed those, such as witchcraft, that threatened to tear it apart."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Arts"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["\"Under an Ill Tongue\": Witchcraft and Religion in Seventeenth-Century Virginia"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Shifflett, Crandall A."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Shadle, Brett L.","Stoudt, Debra L."],"dc:contributor.department":["History"],"dc:creator":["Newman, Lindsey M."],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-03-14T20:33:18Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-03-14T20:33:18Z","2009-05-11"],"dc:date.issued":["2009-04-03"],"dc:description.abstract":["This project analyzes the role of religion, both institutional and private, in Virginia's dealings with witchcraft during the seventeenth century. The witch trials of New England and Europe during the 1600s have tended to overshadow those that simultaneously took place in Virginia, leaving historians to prematurely regard Virginia as an anomaly of rationality in an otherwise superstitious period of witches and demons. Virginia's failure to prosecute those accused of witchcraft was not due to a lack of allegations, my thesis will argue, but can instead be partly attributed to the nature of the colony's religious experience and the theology and practices of Virginia's Anglican Church. While Virginia's seventeenth-century inhabitants migrated to the New World with firmly entrenched English religious values, their relationship with God and their response to the supernatural world were profoundly influenced by New World experiences and peoples. To protect the social fragility of their colony, Virginia's political and religious leaders consciously chose to prosecute offenses that they felt threatened the social cohesion of the colony, such as fornication, gossip, and slander, and dismissed those, such as witchcraft, that threatened to tear it apart."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Arts"],"dc:identifier.other":["etd-04092009-110353"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/31667"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["Virginia -- Religious Life and Customs","Virginia – Religion -- Seventeenth Century","Virginia -- Church History -- Seventeenth Century","Church of England – Virginia – History – Seventeen","Witchcraft – Virginia – History -- Seventeenth Century"],"dc:title":["\"Under an Ill Tongue\": Witchcraft and Religion in Seventeenth-Century Virginia"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["History"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:49Z"}