Includes bibliographical references and index.

Reveals how witchcraft in post-Salem America was not just a matter of scary fireside tales, Halloween legends, and superstitions: it continued to be a matter of life and death. If anything, witchcraft disputes multiplied as hundreds of thousands of immigrants poured into North America, people for whom witchcraft was still a heinous crime. Tells the story of countless murders and many other personal tragedies that resulted from accusations of witchcraft among European Americans--as well as in Native American and African American communities. For instance, the impact of this belief on Native Americans, as colonists--from Anglo-American settlers to Spanish missionaries--saw Indian medicine men as the Devil's agents, potent workers of malign magic. But also reveals that seventeenth-century Iroquois--faced with decimating, mysterious diseases--accused Jesuits of being plague-spreading witches. The book shows how different American groups shaped each other's languages and beliefs, sharing not only our positive cultural traits, but our fears and weaknesses as well.