How many salem witches were killed

Most of the accused were Godfearing individuals and respected townspeople. After the hysteria was over, Massachusetts recognized the witch trials for what they were and began a centuries-long process of atonement. Judges, juries, and accusers publicly apologized, but the apologies were of little comfort to affected families. By the state had exonerated the accused from all wrongdoing and offered monetary compensations to surviving family members. In the Massachusetts state legislature officially cleared the names of the last of the accused witches.

The Crucible itself has met with censorship in some communities and has been banned from some schools. This article was originally published in Elizabeth Purdy, Ph. Hoffer, Peter Charles.

Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, Norton, Mary Beth. Roach, Marilyn K. New York: Cooper Square Press, Kluft, David. Elizabeth R. England and its American colonies were an anomaly during that period, at least when it came to burning those accused of witchcraft.

And the punishment for capital crimes was death by hanging," Baker told Live Science in an email. When people were accused of witchcraft before an ecclesiastical court, it was treated as heresy. The punishment for someone convicted of heresy was burning at the stake," Baker said. Governor Phipps, in response to Mather's plea and his own wife being questioned for witchcraft, prohibited further arrests, released many accused witches and dissolved the Court of Oyer and Terminer on October Phipps replaced it with a Superior Court of Judicature, which disallowed spectral evidence and only condemned 3 out of 56 defendants.

Phipps eventually pardoned all who were in prison on witchcraft charges by May But the damage had been done: 19 were hanged on Gallows Hill, a year-old man was pressed to death with heavy stones, several people died in jail and nearly people, overall, had been accused of practicing "the Devil's magic. Following the trials and executions, many involved, like judge Samuel Sewall, publicly confessed error and guilt.

On January 14, , the General Court ordered a day of fasting and soul-searching for the tragedy of Salem. In , the court declared the trials unlawful. However, it was not until —more than years later—that Massachusetts formally apologized for the events of In the 20th century, artists and scientists alike continued to be fascinated by the Salem witch trials. Playwright Arthur Miller resurrected the tale with his play The Crucible , using the trials as an allegory for the McCarthyism paranoia in the s.

Additionally, numerous hypotheses have been devised to explain the strange behavior that occurred in Salem in One of the most concrete studies, published in Science in by psychologist Linnda Caporael, blamed the abnormal habits of the accused on the fungus ergot, which can be found in rye, wheat and other cereal grasses.

Toxicologists say that eating ergot-contaminated foods can lead to muscle spasms, vomiting, delusions and hallucinations. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Live TV. This Day In History.