"On this day in 1692, eight people were hanged in Salem, Massachusetts for the crime of witchcraft, the last group executed before the frenzy of the Salem witch trials, which lasted more than a year, was finally spent. During the period of the witch trials, expressing skepticism about the existence of witches or the trials was enough for the suspicion of witchcraft to land on a person. Twenty people, each of whom refused to falsely confess to witchcraft, were killed in all."
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On this day in 1692, eight people were hanged in Salem, Massachusetts for the crime of witchcraft, representing the last group executed before the Salem witch trials ended after more than a year. The witch trials extended for over a year and created a frenzy in which expressing skepticism about the existence of witches or the trials could provoke suspicion. A total of twenty people were killed because they refused to falsely confess to witchcraft. Cultural forces of fear, accusation, and social pressure enabled the persecution and execution of individuals during this episode of mass hysteria and judicial failure.
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