Plymouth colony settlers brought medieval superstitions surrounding black cats to America.
Back in the 14th century, the association between black cats and the devil was so prevalent that people allegedly believed they were causing the Black Death pandemic – and tragically exterminated them as a result.
Later, when the 16th-century hysteria over witchcraft was at its peak, suspicious Europeans associated black cats with so-called witches, believing them to be their “familiars” – and this notion spread all the way to America during the Salem Witch Trials.
