33 pages • 1 hour read
Paul S. BoyerA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
A very clear division existed between the Village and the Town of Salem. The Town represented the merchant class of the region, while the Village was primarily agricultural. The authors narrow their focus beyond this simple geographic divide to one even more subtle. Within the Village itself lay distinctions. Its eastern and southern borders touched the Town proper. As a result, Village inhabitants who lived closest to this area benefited by the connection. They could market their farm produce to Town inhabitants and could easily participate in Town politics, thus securing more power and wealth for themselves.
In contrast, the farmers who lived in the northern and western region of the Village had no such advantages. They weren’t near enough to roads to transport their produce to town. The farmland they held was generally swampier and less arable than that of the southeast corner. To add to their frustration, this group of farmers could not expand their border holdings westward or southward because of the Village’s annexation to the Town.
Featured Collections