Many historians consider the lasting effects of the trials to have been highly influential in subsequent United States history. It was not unique, but a Colonial American example of the much broader phenomenon of witch trials in the early modern period, which took place also in Europe. It has been used in political rhetoric and popular literature as a vivid cautionary tale about the dangers of isolation, religious extremism, false accusations, and lapses in due process.
The episode is one of Colonial America's most notorious cases of mass hysteria. Only fourteen other women and two men had been executed in Massachusetts and Connecticut during the 17th century. It was the deadliest witch hunt in the history of colonial North America. The grand juries and trials for this capital crime were conducted by a Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 and by a Superior Court of Judicature in 1693, both held in Salem Town, where the hangings also took place. Īrrests were made in numerous towns beyond Salem and Salem Village (known today as Danvers), notably Andover and Topsfield. One other man, Giles Corey, was pressed to death for refusing to plead, and at least five people died in jail. Thirty were found guilty, nineteen of whom were executed by hanging (fourteen women and five men). More than two hundred people were accused. The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693.