Question

rich to england. they were a band of individualists, and a much more ingratiating group than the massachusetts men. but virginia destroyed them. massachusetts tried to kill off the puritans, but they combined; they set up a communal society which, in the beginning, was little more than an armed camp with an autocratic and very devoted leadership. it was, however, an autocracy by consent, for they were united from top to bottom by a commonly held ideology whose perpetuation was the reason and justification for all their sufferings. so their self-denial, their purposefulness, their suspicion of all vain pursuits, their hard-handed justice, were altogether perfect instruments for the conquest of this space so antagonistic to man. but the people of salem in 1692 were not quite the dedicated folk that arrived on the mayflower. a vast differentiation had taken place, and in their own time a revolution had unseated the royal government and substituted a junta which was at this moment in power.⁴ the times, to their eyes, must have been out of joint, and to the common folk must have seemed as insoluble and complicated as do ours today. it is not hard to see how easily many could have been led to believe that the time of confusion had been brought upon them by deep and darkling forces. no hint of such speculation appears on the court record, but social disorder in any age breeds such mystical suspicions, and when, as in salem, wonders are brought forth from below the social surface, it is too much to expect people to hold back very long from laying on the victims with all the force of their frustrations. ⁴ a junta...power: junta is a spanish term meaning \a small, elite ruling council.\ the reference here is to the group that led england’s glorious revolution of 1688–1689. 5. read as you read lines 78–105, continue to cite textual evidence. • underline details that describe the massachusetts colony. • circle text describing the “character” of the jamestown settlement. • in the margin, explain why the massachusetts colony survived. 6. reread reread lines 93–105. according to miller, what effect does social disorder have on the people of salem?

Explanation:

Question 6

To answer this, we refer to the text: "social disorder in any age breeds such mystical suspicions, and when, as in Salem, wonders are brought forth from below the social surface, it is too much to expect people to hold back very long from laying on the victims with all the force of their frustrations." So social disorder makes Salem people have mystical suspicions and release frustrations on victims.

Answer:

According to Miller, social disorder in Salem breeds mystical suspicions among the people, and when "wonders" (likely referring to the strange events like witchcraft accusations) emerge from below the social surface, it leads people to lay the force of their frustrations on the victims (by accusing others, likely in the context of the Salem witch trials). In short, social disorder causes the people of Salem to develop mystical suspicions and direct their frustrations toward victims.