Final answer:
Following the Salem witch trials, individuals involved in the prosecutions later admitted their errors, and the colonial government annulled the convictions, granting indemnity to the victims and their families. Influential leaders reversed their positions, and the public opinion shifted away from the trials, with efforts made to rectify the wrongs caused by the hysteria.
Step-by-step explanation:
After the Salem witch trials ended, several people who were instrumental in the accusations and ensuing trials took different paths. Most notably, many of those involved in fueling the hysteria ultimately acknowledged their mistakes. This period of confession and acknowledgment came years after the trials concluded. For instance, twenty years after the trials, the Massachusetts courts annulled the convictions and granted indemnity to the victims and their families, which was a clear admission of fault by the colonial government. Influential figures like Cotton Mather and Increase Mather, who had initially supported the trials, later wrote about the fallibility of the methods used to identify witches, signifying a shift in perspective.
The mass hysteria during the trials was influenced by deep-seated beliefs in witchcraft and the devil, exacerbating the fear and suspicion among the Puritan population of Massachusetts Bay Colony. When the trials ended abruptly in 1693, following accusations against socially prominent individuals and the questioning of spectral evidence, there was a shift in public opinion. This shift included some clergy and public figures distancing themselves from the proceedings they once supported and aimed to prevent further wrongful persecution by advocating for the better treatment of the accused.