Between February 1692 and May 1693, colonial Massachusetts experienced the Salem witch trials, a widening crisis that began in Salem Village and spread to other towns, with major proceedings and executions in Salem Town. More than 200 people were accused and 30 convicted in the deadliest witch hunt in colonial North America. Nineteen were hanged, Giles Corey was pressed to death, and at least five others died in jail. The prosecutions grew from local tensions, wider instability, and Puritan belief in the supernatural, then collapsed as doubts about spectral evidence mounted. Later, Massachusetts declared the trials unlawful and gradually exonerated the condemned.

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Salem, Massachusetts · USA