Talk:Cotton Mather

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	Cotton Mather is within the scope of The Salem Witch Trials Task Force. A task force dedicated to improving articles about and relating to the Salem Witch Trials.
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More information about this article... The following comments have been left for this page: Rating suggests the broad outlines of his life have been drawn. More important is the social / cultural consequence of his life on American life. Most recent biographies are more than 500 pages so a particularly useful addition would be a brief descriptive bibliography of his major works and their influence on the culture at large. cfelker 13:36, 7 September 2006 (UTC) (edit)

[edit] issues

Why was the content added about Mather and Slavery deleted? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mcommeyras (talk • contribs) 07:52, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

Well written article. I dont have time right now to do an edit, but I would like to point out 3 more things about Mather:

1. His scientific work got him elected to the Royal society. 2. Ben Franklin cited Mather as a positive influence on his own life. 3. Mather was a leader in the public health field--he is responsible for saving many lives by introducing small pox vaccination in the North American colonies when it was not yet the standard of care in Europe.

What about Cotton Mather's ideas about women? Why was that not touched at all?

Might want to mention that he was a slave holder.

I wanted to point out that under the "Background" heading, it is said that Mather cautioned against the use of 'spectral evidence' during the Salem Witch Trials, whereas under the 'spectral evidence' link it is said that he urged its acceptance. I'm not sure which view is correct, just wanted to point out the discrepancy.

Requesting Prof Smolinski add anything, particularly descriptions of his major writings and their importance to the culture at large. cfelker 13:45, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

Cotton Mather was one of the founders of Collegiate School in New Haven CT (Yale University); Asked Elihu Yale for financial help to build new buildings at the college; Suggested to change the name to Yale College

Whatever Mather said at the time about spectral evidence, his book Wonders of the Invisible World is one long compilation of anecdotes of often very visible supernatural occult phenomena. So apparently he liked to contradict himself on this issue. Perhaps he was "large and contained multitudes."

Arkhamite 16:50, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fiction

As far as I remember, he even appeared in a Spiderman comic, right? --80.133.235.82 13:00, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cotton Mather and Robert Calef

It would seem important to include a section on the debate between Mather and Calef on the occurrences of the Salem Witch Trails. The dispute between the two greatly influenced the interpretation of the Salem Witch Trials throughout different periods. I see no mention of this in the article. (RorikStrindberg (talk) 04:58, 8 April 2008 (UTC))

If you have reliable sources in this regard, please be bold and add it, preferably with suitable citations. --Flex (talk/contribs) 13:42, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, i would be using reliable sources. I find it interesting, and the differences between Mather's and Calef's accounts have changed the interpretation of the SWT. Calef's account, which blamed Mather, influenced Charles Upham's Salem Witchcraft where Mather influenced Chadwick Hansen's Witchcraft at Salem. (RorikStrindberg (talk) 03:34, 10 April 2008 (UTC))