A Storm of Witchcraft by Tad Baker

Emerson Baker, Salem State University, “A Storm of Witchcraft: Salem Witch Trials and the American Experience.” It took a perfect storm of factors ranging from religious discord to political factionalism and the worst weather of the century to create the greatest witch hunt in American history in Salem in 1692. One key factor was a panic over the destruction of most Maine settlements during King William’s War (1688-1697). Indeed, many of the participants in the Salem witch trials were residents or war refugees from Maine, including Reverend George Burroughs, the Wells minister who was executed for witchcraft. Brief Biography Emerson "Tad" Baker is a professor of History at Salem State University. The York resident is the author or co-author of six books on the history and archaeology of early New England, including A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience, and The Devil of Great Island: Witchcraft and Conflict in Early New England. He was a member of the Gallows Hill Group that verified the location of the Salem hangings, a feat hailed by Archaeology magazine as one of 2016’s top ten discoveries in the world. Baker has served as an advisor for PBS-TV’s American Experience and Colonial House, and has been an on-camera expert for TLC’s Who Do You Think You Are?