How did they punish the people accused of being a witch during the Salem witch trials?
People who were CONVICTED of witchcraft were hanged. Although the trials were not what we would consider to be due process, they were trials and only the convicted were hanged. Nineteen people were hanged. Four died in prison Giles Corey refused to enter a plea in his trial and was pressed to death . In English common law, it had long been permitted to try to force a plea from an accused person by placing him/her on the ground under a board (such as a door) and placing weights (usually stones) on top until the person entered a plea of guilty or not guilty. Death was often the result. This was not considered to be punishment of a convicted person and was, in fact, not lawful at the time of Corey’s pressing.
