Fear of the devil and witches was common among many Christians of the time, including the Puritans living in Massachusetts. Witch trials began to take place in Europe in the early 1300s and continued until the late 1700s. In New England, the first hanging for witchcraft took place in 1647, after the number of witch hunts in Europe had decreased.

The Salem witch trials lasted from May to October of 1692. The chain of events began with a West Indian slave named Tituba who told voodoo tales to a group of girls. A few of these girls were so influenced by these tales that they claimed to be visited by the devil. They accused three Salem women, including Tituba, of witchcraft. The accused women were pressured into admitting their “crime.” They also named others falsely. The public panicked. Alarm over the threat of witchcraft spread rapidly throughout Massachusetts.

Special courts were set up in Salem to try the people accused of witchcraft. The list of the accused grew. Even the wife of Massachusetts' governor William Phips was suspected. As many as 150 people were put in jail. In all, 19 people were hanged, one man was crushed to death, and others died in prison.

By September, the public's terror began to decrease. Governor Phips broke up the special court in October and released the remaining prisoners. The Massachusetts General Court later reversed the guilty decisions in the trials. The court also gave money to the families of those who had been put to death. Of the three judges who tried the cases, only one later publicly admitted that he made a mistake.