Punishment for Witches in Salem

When the first "witches" were found guilty in Salem, right away people wanted revenge for the two little girls who were bewitched. However, before they automatically jumped to conclusions, they had to investigate first. Many of the times the judge would find evidence that they thought did make these women witches. In some cases they needed a confession to reassure their accusations. Some methods to make them confess were to crush them. They would make the witch lie on a table or the ground and lay a board over them. They would ask them question, and if they didn't give the answer they wanted, they would lay big rocks on the board. This was also a punishment that could eventually kill them. Another punishment/confession treatment was to stone the witch to death. They would literally throw stones at the witch until they died or confessed to witchcraft. One way that people killed witches was to hang them, or burn them tied to a stake in the middle of the town. This would help reassure people not to practice witchcraft.

An accused witch being hanged.