Both Uses of
persecution
in
The Devil and Tom Walker
- Since the red men have been exterminated by you white savages, I amuse myself by presiding at the persecutions of Quakers and Anabaptists; I am the great patron and prompter of slave-dealers and the grand-master of the Salem witches.†
*persecutions = instances of very bad and unfair treatment
- He even talked of the expediency of reviving the persecution of Quakers and Anabaptists.†
persecution = very bad and unfair treatment
Definition:
very bad and unfair treatment of others -- often because of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or political beliefs