The Salem Witch Trials (June 1692-May 1693) throughout American history, a string of inquiries and prosecutions that resulted in the hanging of 19 convicted "witches" and the imprisonment of several additional suspects in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony (Now Danvers, Massachusetts).
A lengthy tale of witch hunts that started in Europe between 1300 and 1330 and finished in the late 18th century including the occurrences in Salem.
Instead of pursuing those who were already suspected of being witches, the "hunts" were attempts to find witches. Witches were said to be Satanists who had exchanged their souls for his help. They were thought to use demons to do magical tasks, transform from human to animal or from one human form to another, use animals as their "familiar spirits," and ride through the night sky to attend covert gatherings and orgies. There is little question that some people did try to use magic with malicious intent and worship the devil. But nobody ever lived up to the idea of a “witch” as it was previously defined.