Topic

The Trials

In the summer of 1692, the legal machinery of Massachusetts Bay Colony turned against its own people. These articles examine the courts, the evidence, the executions, and the long aftermath of the Salem witch trials.

2 articles

Old colonial courthouse historic building New England

The Invisible Crime: Spectral Evidence and the Court of Oyer and Terminer

The Court of Oyer and Terminer — 'to hear and determine' — was established in May 1692 to try the growing number of witchcraft cases. It would hear and determine the fates of nineteen people before it was dissolved that October.

October 5, 2026·10 min read

They Would Not Confess: The Condemned Who Chose Death

In the summer of 1692, the calculus of survival in Salem Village was brutally simple: confess to witchcraft and live, or maintain your innocence and hang. More than fifty people confessed. Nineteen refused.

October 6, 2026·9 min read