Debunked Myths

The harrowing image of witch burnings is deeply ingrained in our cultural memory, but its application to the American colonies is historically inaccurate. During the Salem witch trials of 1692—America's most famous witchcraft episode—the twenty people executed died by hanging, not burning. One man, Giles Corey, was pressed to death with heavy stones for refusing to enter a plea.

The confusion arises because burning was indeed the preferred method of execution for witchcraft in parts of Continental Europe, particularly in areas influenced by the Holy Roman Empire. There, witchcraft was treated as heresy against the Church, and burning was the traditional punishment. However, in the English colonies, the legal system prescribed hanging for felony crimes like witchcraft.

This distinction matters because it shows how different legal and religious traditions shaped the mechanisms of persecution. The burning stake makes for dramatic symbolism, but the historical reality in America was the gallows—a different method for the same tragic outcome of mass hysteria and injustice.