A Spectator Sport

All punishments are public events, but executions are especially grand affairs. The condemned is paraded around town, often wearing only a shirt, and is forced to go from house to house. After that, the procession stops at the church, where a vitriolic and sensational sermon, specific to the condemned, is the order of the day. In the Puritan colonies, market day (Thursday) is also punishment day, so punishments attract big crowds. Often the entire community — men, women, and children — join the procession to the gallows. If possible, a final confession and repentance form part of the spectacle. The hanging itself takes quite some time.

The executed body is said to have magical qualities. Slaves are dismembered and displayed — though whites are not. Some people take these body parts home and keep them, hoping to benefit from their special powers.

Public Hanging of Witches, 1678.