ABSTRACT
The introduction of Christianity into North America began in the Spanish-held areas of the southwest and Florida in the early sixteenth century. The cautionary words about the difficulties in learning about or understanding Indigenous patterns apply even more strongly to the North American situation. The number of converts in French North America grew slowly during the seventeenth century, as conversion generally cut one off from the family and kin networks that were essential to survival. The only mass trial in North America, the Salem outbreak of 1692, began with teenage girls who attempted to use magical means to find out whom they would marry, and subsequently accused several women of bewitching them. This chapter primarily focuses on three areas – French North America, New England, and the southern colonies – and on three types of religious institutions – Catholicism, Puritanism, and Anglicanism – all of which operated in cooperation with secular authorities.
