The largest witch hunt in America resulted in the execution of 20 people, both men and women. 19 of these people were hanged, and one was pressed to death with large stones. These sad events took place in which city in which year?

The infamous witch trials that swept through colonial Massachusetts reached their terrifying peak in 1692. The crisis began in Salem Village when a few young women began exhibiting strange afflictions and accused several local residents of witchcraft. Fueled by a combination of religious extremism, social tensions, and mass hysteria, the accusations quickly spiraled out of control. A special court was established to hear the cases, which notoriously accepted "spectral evidence"—testimony from victims that they had been tormented by an accused person's spirit.

This legal framework led to the conviction and execution of 20 people. Nineteen of the condemned, including both men and women, were put to death by hanging on Gallows Hill. One victim, an elderly farmer named Giles Corey, met a different and particularly brutal end. He refused to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty, a tactic to prevent his property from being confiscated from his heirs. For this defiance, he was pressed to death with heavy stones, the only time this punishment was used in American history.

The hysteria began to wane by the autumn of 1692 as prominent citizens, including the governor's wife, were accused, leading many to question the accusers' credibility. Governor William Phips dissolved the court and the tragic episode concluded. In the years that followed, the colony formally apologized and financially compensated the families of the victims, cementing the Salem witch trials as a dark and cautionary chapter in American history.