Origins & Early Life

Cotton Mather (; February 12, 1663 – February 15, 1728) was a Puritan theologian, naturalist and historian active in New England as a clergyman, publishing numerous texts concerning subjects including demonology, morality, apologetics, natural history, zoology, botany, meteorology, astronomy, medicine, fossils, agriculture, and New England history. After being educated at Harvard College, he joined his father Increase Mather as minister of the Congregationalist Old North Meeting House in Boston, then part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, where he preached for the rest of his life. He has been referred to as the "first American Evangelical". A major intellectual and public figure in English-speaking colonial America, Cotton Mather helped lead the successful revolt of 1689 against Sir Edmund Andros, the governor of New England appointed by King James II.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Mather's subsequent involvement in the Salem witch trials of 1692–1693, which he defended in the book Wonders of the Invisible World (1693), attracted intense controversy in his own day and has negatively affected his historical reputation. As a historian of colonial New England, Mather is noted for his Magnalia Christi Americana (1702...

Enduring Legacy & Impact

The historical impact and works continue to influence the modern world.

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

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