As the empirical evidence uncovered by 21st century science allows the world's understanding of the physical universe to increase exponentially, more and more people become skeptical of the superstition. During the 16th and 17th centuries, however, a phenomenon of worldwide mass hysteria emerged from the medieval period and rapidly spread throughout Europe and colonial North America. The concept of magic as opposed to religion, particularly witchcraft, became the main problem of collective obsessive behavior around the beginning of the 15th century. By the end of the 16th century, it had spread to the Puritans in the British New England colonies and soon led to the destruction of due process due to religious extremism. Some 400 years later, the mainstream media, political system, and popular literature of the United States still refer to these events, coined as the “Salem witch trials” or collectively “a witch hunt.” Some would say that the enormous attention it received was the very reason it thrived so violently for so long. Others argue that the important social lessons he taught continue today, only in a different form, due to the narrow-minded rejection of folklore and superstitious concepts. Regardless, the “Salem Witch Trials” remain significant today as the same themes of fear, mass persuasion, and extremism continue to permeate modern American culture. The facts are these: a series of hearings and trials of people accused of witchcraft were conducted in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693, leaving hundreds dead or imprisoned (Foner, 2008). Those who remained free but in exile, at the very least, carried with them a stigma that tarnished their reputations. The most infamous of these trials was that of... half of the document... on, T. (1637). The Trial of Anne Hutchinson. Voices of Freedom, 1(3), 32-38.Hutton, R (1999). Triumph of the Moon: The Rise of Modern Pagan Witchcraft (pp. 136). Newyork: Oxford University press.Lawson, D. (1692). A short and true account of some notable passages relating to various persons affected by witchcraft, in the village of Salem: This occurred from the nineteenth of March to the fifth of April, 1692. BostonLewis, M. (2002). The witches' curse. In J. Barraclough, Secrets of the Dead. New York, NY: PBS.O'Dubhain, D. (2011). Execution estimates. Retrieved from http://www.summerlands.com/crossroads/remembrance/current.htm.Phips, W. (1693). Letter from Governor William Phips. London: The Earl of Nottinghan.Ray, B. (2002). Salem Witch Trials: Documentary Archive and Transcription Project. Retrieved from http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/home.html.