Many women today are outspoken and considered independent - while there may be some in today's society who still frown on that, it is no longer considered a mark of the devil to the vast majority of the population. Many credit this somewhat newly found freedom known as equal rights with the dedication of those before through the suffrage movement However a deeper look into history will show the movement started long before the late 1800's and when women paid the price for being independent and moving forward against the grain.
One such woman was Bridget Bishop. Bridget was the recipient of many whispers of rumor during the time she lived in Salem, Massachusetts in the late 1600's. Twice widowed and on her third marriage, Bridget at the age of approximately 60 years old would become the first victim to be sentenced to the gallows for witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. Her day in the Puritan court and sentence came swiftly...all on the same day, June 2 1692 -
She, however, was not the first to be accused, but considering she is what many say was an easy target, she became the first example to be made in what is now known as a sad and tragic time in this land's history.
What made her an easy target? She dared to be different. Rather than blending into the Puritan community she stood out like a blooming rose in winter, and would often wear a red bodice - a social no no. She befriended others who did not abide by the rules of the Puritan ways by hosting parties where "those" people attended and drank...sometimes gambled. She kept unreasonable hours being up late and sleeping in.
Looking back and applying what we know today, it's easy to see that she was considered by those in control and power as someone who needed to be dealt with, even if it meant trumped up charges.
(Bishop) I am no witch
(The court) Why if you have not wrote in the book, yet tell me how far you have gone? Have you not to do with familiar Spirits?
(Bishop) I have no familiarity with the devil.
(The court) How is it then, that your appearance doth hurt these?
(Bishop) I am innocent.
(The Court) Why you seem to act witchcraft before us, by the motion of your body, which seems to have influence upon the afflicted.
(Bishop) I know nothing of it. I am innocent to a Witch. I know not what a Witch is
(The Court) How do you know then that you are not a witch
(Bishop) I do not know what you say.
(The Court) How can you know, you are no Witch, & yet not know what a Witch is.
(Bishop) I am clear: if I were any such person you should know it.
(The Court) You may threaten, but you can do no more than you are per-
mitted .
(Bishop) I am innocent of a witch.
(The Court) What do you say of those murders you are charged with?
(Bishop) I hope, I am not guilty of Murder
Bridget was put to death just 8 days later on June 10, 1692. The example had now been set.
Across the ocean....
Attitudes on women and their rights had not changed much in two hundred years since, but women stood up and spoke out as the suffrage movement took hold and the campaign blossomed in the states as well as other parts of the world.
On this day...June 2... in 1884 Admiral Frederick Maxse of Eastbourne sent a pamphlet advocating against the movement to Millicent Garrett Fawcett, a leader and activist in the British suffrage movement. In the correspondence was a message which conveyed the majority of women who ask for the vote are Liberal, but the majority of those who would get it are Conservative. He further suggested that there would be civil war if women were enfranchised. Naturally such comments did not dissuade Fawcett from moving forward in the movement.
Today...
While eventually women in the states and Europe won the right to vote as well as some other basic rights - the movement continues on...such as noted in an article which appears today, June 2, 2011, on the France 24 website - the article and video clip speaks to the recent struggle in Saudi Arabia where women are fighting for the right to drive a car.
According to the article an internet consultant, Manal Al-Sharif was arrested just two weeks ago for defying a ban on women drivers. She was released from custody just earlier this week and after issuing a statement saying she would abandon a campaign asking women to take part in a drive on June 17, 2011.
While we may never know what happened to her while in custody - we do know, through reports, others are leading the cause and will continue with the movement...despite what history may one day look back at and refer to as yet another witch hunt against those who dared to question.
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