The air is thick with smoke. A woman, bound to a wooden stake, screams as flames lick at her
feet. Around her, a crowd of stern-faced Puritans watch, their expressions a mix of righteous
satisfaction and morbid fascination. Some pray. Others jeer. The year is 1692, and another witch
burns in Salem, Massachusetts.
This scene, or some variation of it, has appeared in countless books, films, television shows,
and Halloween decorations. It has been etched into our collective consciousness as the definitive
image of the Salem Witch Trials. It feels historically authentic, emotionally powerful, and
viscerally horrifying.
There’s just one problem: it never happened.
Not a single person accused of witchcraft in Salem was burned at the stake. Not one. The
nineteen people executed during the Salem Witch Trials were hanged, one man was pressed to
death with stones, and several others died in prison, but no one was burned. This isn’t a matter of
historical debate or a minor detail that scholars disagree about; it’s a straightforward historical
fact, thoroughly documented in court records, eyewitness accounts, and official documents
from colonial Massachusetts.
Yet the image of burning “witches” in Salem persists with remarkable tenacity. Why do so many
people, even those with some knowledge of American history, believe in an execution method
that was never used in colonial New England? What does this persistent misconception tell us
about how historical memory forms and distorts? And what really happened during that terrible
summer and fall of 1692?
The Salem Reality: Gallows, Not Stakes
“Mom, did you know they didn’t actually burn witches in Salem?”
I overheard this conversation between a teenage boy and his mother while visiting the Salem
Witch Museum in Massachusetts. The mother looked genuinely surprised.
“Really? But I thought that’s how they killed witches back then, ” she replied.
“No, they hanged them here. The burning stuff was in Europe.”
The mother shook her head. “I’ve gone my whole life thinking they burned witches in Salem.”
This exchange, which I witnessed while researching this book, demonstrates how deeply
ingrained the burning myth has become. Even at a museum dedicated to the trials, visitors arrive
with firmly established misconceptions that can be difficult to dislodge.
So what actually happened during those harrowing months in 1692-1693?
The Salem witch panic began in January 1692 when several young girls in Salem Village (now
Danvers, Massachusetts) began exhibiting strange behaviors, contortions, fits, and
incomprehensible speech. A local doctor suggested they were bewitched, and under pressure,
the girls accused three women of afflicting them: Tituba, a Caribbean slave owned by the village
minister; Sarah Good, a homeless beggar; and Sarah Osborne, an elderly woman who had
scandalized the community by marrying her servant.
The accusations spread rapidly. More people, primarily girls and young women, claimed to be
afflicted, and they named more alleged witches. Within months, jails throughout Essex County
were filled with accused witches from Salem and surrounding communities.
The colony established a special Court of Oyer and Terminer to hear the witchcraft cases.
Between June and September 1692, this court tried, convicted, and sentenced to death twentyseven people. Of these, nineteen were executed by hanging on Gallows Hill:
- June 10, 1692: Bridget Bishop
- July 19, 1692: Sarah Good, Elizabeth Howe, Susannah Martin, Rebecca Nurse, and
Sarah Wildes - August 19, 1692: George Burroughs, Martha Carrier, George Jacobs Sr., John Proctor,
and John Willard - September 22, 1692: Martha Corey, Mary Eastey, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator,
Margaret Scott, Wilmot Redd, Samuel Wardwell, and Mary Parker
One man, Giles Corey, refused to enter a plea when arraigned. Under English law, a person
who refused to plead could not be tried. To break this impasse, authorities subjected Corey to
the torture known as peine forte et dure, pressing with heavy stones until he either entered a plea
or died. Corey endured this torture for two days before dying on September 19, 1692,
reportedly uttering only “more weight” when asked to plead.
Additionally, at least five people died in prison while awaiting trial: Sarah Osborne, Roger
Toothaker, Lydia Dustin, Ann Foster, and Sarah Good’s infant daughter.
Court records meticulously document these executions. The condemned were transported by cart
to Gallows Hill, where they were hanged one by one. Eyewitness accounts describe these
hangings in detail. Nowhere in any primary source, court records, diaries, letters, or official
documents, is there any mention of burning as a method of execution.
“The court records are absolutely clear, ” explains historian Emerson Baker, author of A Storm
of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience. “The sentences explicitly called
for hanging, and we have detailed accounts of those hangings taking place. There’s simply no
evidence that anyone was burned during the Salem trials.”
Why Didn’t New England Burn Witches?
To understand why Salem’s witches were hanged rather than burned, we need to examine the
legal traditions that governed the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
The American colonies operated under English common law, which treated witchcraft as a
felony, a crime against the state, rather than as heresy. Under English law, dating back to the
Witchcraft Act of 1604, the punishment for witchcraft was hanging, not burning.
This contrasted sharply with practices in continental Europe, where witch trials often took place
under ecclesiastical (church) courts. In many parts of Europe, particularly in areas under
Catholic influence, witchcraft was treated primarily as heresy, a crime against God and the
Church. Heresy was traditionally punishable by burning at the stake, which was believed to
purify the soul and protect the community from contamination.
Protestant England generally rejected burning as a punishment for witchcraft. While heretics and
traitors were occasionally burned in Tudor England, witches were almost always hanged. As an
English colony following English legal traditions, Massachusetts naturally adopted hanging as
the prescribed execution method for convicted witches.
“The distinction between felony and heresy is crucial for understanding the different approaches
to witch trials in England versus continental Europe, ” explains legal historian Mary Beth
Norton, author of In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692. “In New England,
witchcraft prosecutions were conducted by secular courts using English criminal procedures, not
by religious tribunals. This meant that hanging, not burning, was the legal method of
execution.”
This doesn’t mean that New England’s approach to witchcraft was more humane or enlightened
than Europe’s. The Puritans still firmly believed in the reality of witchcraft and the necessity of
eliminating it from their communities. Their religious worldview placed Satan and his human
allies at the center of many misfortunes. The difference was institutional and procedural, not
philosophical.
Massachusetts’ legal approach to witchcraft was codified in its 1641 legal code, known as the
Body of Liberties, which stated: “If any man or woman be a witch, that is, hath or consulteth
with a familiar spirit, they shall be put to death.” The method of execution was understood to be
hanging, following English precedent.
The Origins of the Burning Myth
If the historical record clearly shows that Salem’s witches were hanged, why do so many people
believe they were burned? This misconception emerges from a complex mixture of factors,
including confusion with European witch hunts, powerful cultural imagery, and the influence of
literature and visual media.
Conflating European and American Witch Hunts
Between the 15th and 18th centuries, an estimated 40, 000 to 60, 000 people were executed for
witchcraft in Europe. In many European jurisdictions, particularly in Germany, France, and
Scotland, burning was indeed the common method of execution for convicted witches.
The European witch-hunting era was longer, more extensive, and claimed far more victims than
the comparatively brief and limited Salem episode. Yet Salem has become the emblematic witch
trial in American cultural memory, absorbing aspects of the European experience in the process.
“People tend to mentally collapse different historical witch hunts into a single archetypal
narrative, ” explains Dr. Katherine Howe, a historian specializing in New England witchcraft.
“Details from European trials, like burning at the stake, the ‘swimming’ test for witches, or even
the pointed hat imagery, get transplanted into the Salem story because they’ve become part of our
generalized conception of what witch hunts looked like.”
This conflation is especially common because many Americans trace their ancestry to European
regions where witch-burning did occur. Family stories about ancestors who fled religious
persecution, combined with general knowledge about European witch hunts, can easily create
the impression that similar practices occurred in colonial America.
The Visual Power of Burning
Fire has powerful symbolic and visual associations that make it particularly memorable as an
execution method. The image of a person burning at the stake evokes primal fears and creates a
more dramatic spectacle than hanging.
“There’s a reason filmmakers and artists gravitate toward burning as a visual, ” notes cultural
historian Dr. Jason Daniels. “Fire represents purification, judgment, and spectacular
punishment. The visual of a person at a stake surrounded by flames is simply more cinematically
powerful than a hanging, which is over relatively quickly.”
This dramatic appeal helps explain why artists, filmmakers, and writers have often chosen to
depict Salem’s witches burning rather than hanging, even when they know it’s historically
inaccurate. The emotional impact of burning imagery overrides historical fidelity.
Literary and Media Influences
Popular culture has played an enormous role in cementing the burning myth in public
consciousness. From Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible (and its film adaptations) to Disney’s
Hocus Pocus and countless Halloween decorations featuring burning witches, media
representations have reinforced the false association between Salem and burning.
While Miller’s The Crucible doesn’t actually depict witch burnings (it accurately portrays
hanging as the execution method), many stage and film adaptations have incorporated burning
imagery in their promotional materials or visual design. Less historically careful productions
have explicitly shown Salem witches burning, normalizing this misconception for generations of
viewers.
Television shows from Bewitched to American Horror Story have referenced Salem while
incorporating burning imagery. Children’s Halloween books often include illustrations of burning
witches alongside mentions of Salem. Year after year, these representations build upon each
other, creating a powerful cultural narrative that feels true even though it contradicts historical
reality.
During my visit to Salem’s Halloween celebrations, I counted seven different souvenir shops
selling decorations or artwork depicting burning witches in Puritan settings. When I asked one
shop owner about the historical inaccuracy, she shrugged and said, “That’s what sells. People
expect witches to burn.”
The Real Horror of Salem
The burning myth doesn’t just get the details wrong, it potentially distracts from the genuine
horrors of the Salem witch trials and their deeper causes. The true tragedy of Salem wasn’t about
spectacular methods of execution but about how quickly a community could turn against its own
members based on spectral evidence, teenage accusations, and mass hysteria.
A Community Torn Apart
Salem Village (now Danvers) in 1692 was already a community under stress before the
witchcraft accusations began. Religious tensions, property disputes, and the aftereffects of war
with Native Americans had created deep divisions among neighbors.
The village had split into factions, often aligned with either support for or opposition to the
controversial minister Samuel Parris. When the accusations began in Parris’s own household,
they quickly mapped onto existing social conflicts, with members of one faction accusing
members of the other.
“What makes Salem so disturbing isn’t just that innocent people were executed, ” explains
historian Mary Beth Norton, “but that these were executions of neighbors by neighbors. People
who had lived alongside each other for years suddenly viewed their community members as
agents of Satan.”
This breakdown of community bonds reveals more about human psychology and social
dynamics than would a simple story about religious fanatics burning witches. The Salem trials
show how easily social trust can collapse under pressure, how readily people accept
extraordinary claims during times of stress, and how dangerous it can be when legal standards of
evidence are abandoned.
Spectral Evidence and Legal Failures
Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the Salem trials was the courts’ willingness to accept
“spectral evidence”, testimony that the accused’s spirit or spectral shape had appeared to
witnesses and tormented them.
This represented a significant departure from normal English legal standards. Before the Salem
outbreak, courts in New England had been relatively careful about witchcraft accusations,
requiring physical evidence or credible witness testimony about actual misdeeds, not just
spectral appearances.
In Salem, however, the special Court of Oyer and Terminer accepted spectral evidence despite
objections from some ministers and legal experts. This lowered evidentiary standard made it
nearly impossible for the accused to defend themselves, how could one prove that one’s spectral
shape had not appeared to torment someone?
The legal failings at Salem were eventually recognized. By October 1692, prominent ministers
and officials were raising concerns about the trial procedures. The governor disbanded the Court
of Oyer and Terminer in October, and when a new Superior Court of Judicature began hearing
the remaining witchcraft cases in January 1693, it disallowed spectral evidence. Without this
crucial testimony, most of the remaining accused were acquitted or had their cases dismissed.
“The legal breakdown at Salem is in many ways more frightening than the method of execution,
” notes legal historian Lawrence Friedman. “It shows how quickly due process can be abandoned
during a panic, and how difficult it is to defend oneself once normal standards of evidence are
set aside.”
Multiple Causation: Beyond Religious Hysteria
The Salem witch trials cannot be explained by a single cause. Scholars have identified numerous
contributing factors:
- Religious Worldview: The Puritan belief system accepted the reality of witches and saw
Satan as actively working to undermine godly communities. - Political Instability: The Massachusetts Bay Colony was experiencing political turmoil
following the revocation of its original charter and the formation of the Dominion of New
England. - Frontier Warfare: The region had endured traumatic conflicts with Native Americans,
creating an atmosphere of fear and vulnerability. - Family and Property Disputes: Many accusations followed lines of local conflict over
land, inheritance, or family rivalries. - Medical Factors: Some historians suggest that ergot poisoning (a fungus that can cause
hallucinations) or encephalitis might have contributed to the symptoms displayed by the
“afflicted” girls. - Gender and Power Dynamics: Women, particularly those who defied social norms or
held economic power outside male control, were disproportionately targeted. - Adolescent Psychology: The central accusers were mostly adolescent girls living in a
repressive society that gave them little voice or agency.
This complex interplay of factors created perfect conditions for a witch panic. Understanding
these multiple causes gives us a more nuanced view of Salem than simply attributing the trials to
superstition or religious fanaticism.
“The burning myth substitutes a simple narrative, religious zealots burning witches, for the more
complex and unsettling reality, ” explains sociologist Dr. Rebecca Thompson. “The actual
history forces us to confront uncomfortable questions about community dynamics, legal
systems, and human psychology under stress.”
The Aftermath and Legacy
The Salem witch trials ended almost as suddenly as they began. By the spring of 1693, all
remaining accused witches had been released from prison. The colony gradually reckoned with
what had happened, though full acknowledgment was slow in coming.
In 1697, Massachusetts observed a day of fasting and repentance for the Salem trials. Judge
Samuel Sewall publicly apologized for his role, standing in church while his confession was
read. Some jurors signed a statement of regret. However, no compensation was immediately
offered to the victims or their families.
It wasn’t until 1711 that the colony passed a bill restoring the good names of those accused and
granting compensation to their heirs, though the amounts were small and not all families
received payment. In 1957, Massachusetts formally apologized for the trials, and in 2001, the
state officially exonerated the final group of victims who had not been legally cleared.
Salem’s legacy extends far beyond the immediate aftermath. The trials have become a powerful
American metaphor for mass hysteria, unfair prosecution, and the dangers of religious
extremism. Arthur Miller’s 1953 play The Crucible famously used Salem as an allegory for
McCarthyism, drawing parallels between witch hunts and the anti-Communist persecutions of
his own time.
The city of Salem itself has embraced its complicated history, becoming a center for both
serious historical education and Halloween-themed tourism. The tension between these
approaches, sober historical reflection versus commercialized “witch city” imagery, mirrors the
broader cultural confusion about what really happened in 1692.
“Salem’s dual identity as both a site of historical tragedy and a Halloween destination has
probably contributed to the burning misconception, ” suggests tourism researcher Dr. Kenneth
Waters. “When visitors see gift shops selling witch-burning tchotchkes alongside serious
museums, the line between history and fantasy gets blurred.”
Why This Myth Matters
The belief that Salem witches were burned might seem like a minor historical error, after all,
whether the victims were hanged or burned, they were still unjustly executed. But this
misconception matters for several important reasons:
It Obscures Legal and Historical Differences
The distinction between European and American witch trials reflects meaningful differences in
legal systems and approaches to justice. By conflating them, we lose sight of how specific legal
traditions shaped responses to witchcraft accusations in different regions.
“Understanding that Salem followed English legal procedures helps us see the continuity
between colonial justice and our modern legal system, ” explains legal historian Richard
Sullivan. “The Salem trials weren’t conducted by a separate religious tribunal but by courts that
were direct ancestors of our current judiciary, which makes their failures all the more relevant to
us today.”
This connection to our own legal system makes Salem’s lessons more directly applicable to
modern concerns about due process, evidence standards, and fair trials.
It Distorts Our Understanding of Puritan Society
Contrary to popular stereotypes, the Puritans were not simply irrational religious zealots. They
were complex people operating within their own cultural and intellectual frameworks,
frameworks that included both sincere religious belief and sophisticated legal traditions.
The misconception that Puritans burned witches reinforces a one-dimensional caricature that
prevents us from understanding early American society in all its complexity. It portrays the
Puritans as more medieval and barbaric than they actually were, obscuring the ways in which
they helped shape American institutions and values.
“The burning myth makes it too easy to distance ourselves from the people of Salem, ” notes
historian Sarah Vowell. “If we see them as completely alien, burning witches like medieval
Europeans, we can pretend that we share nothing with them. The truth, that they were people
much like us who still committed these injustices, is far more challenging to confront.”
It Shows How Historical Memory Forms and Distorts
Perhaps most importantly, the persistence of the burning myth demonstrates how historical
memory works, how societies remember, reshape, and sometimes reinvent their pasts.
The transformation of Salem’s hangings into burnings reveals the power of visual imagery, the
influence of popular media, and the human tendency to conflate similar historical events. It
shows how easily misinformation can override documented historical fact, even about wellstudied events in relatively recent history.
“The Salem burning myth is a perfect case study in how historical misconceptions form and
spread, ” explains Dr. Daniel Cohen of Rice University, who studies historical memory. “It
didn’t emerge from a lack of information, we have abundant primary sources about the
executions. Instead, it developed because dramatic cultural representations overrode the actual
historical record in popular consciousness.”
In an era of widespread misinformation and debates about “fake news, ” understanding how and
why such historical misconceptions persist can help us become more critical consumers of
information about both past and present.
Key Insights from Chapter 7
- No one was burned at the stake during the Salem Witch Trials, the nineteen executed
victims were hanged, and one man was pressed to death with stones. - The burning myth arose from confusion with European witch trials, where burning was
indeed a common execution method for those convicted of witchcraft. - Salem followed English legal traditions, which treated witchcraft as a felony punishable
by hanging, not as heresy (which was punishable by burning in some European
jurisdictions). - The trials represent a complex convergence of religious beliefs, community tensions,
political instability, and psychological factors, not simply religious fanaticism. - The belief that Salem witches were burned persists due to dramatic visual imagery,
- popular media representations, and the human tendency to conflate different historical
- witch hunts.
- This misconception matters because it obscures important distinctions between European
and American legal traditions and distances us from understanding early American
society.The persistence of this myth despite abundant contrary evidence demonstrates how
historical memory can be shaped more by cultural representations than by documented
historical facts.
In our next chapter, we’ll examine another persistent American historical myth, the idea that
Abner Doubleday invented baseball in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839. Like the Salem
burning myth, this widely accepted “origin story” turns out to be a complete fabrication,
revealing how national narratives are sometimes invented rather than discovered.