Samuel Parris, the minister who had encouraged the town to bring the accused witches to trial, was forced to leave after the Essex County Court ordered that Salem hold new elections for the Salem Village Council. The new minister, Joseph Green, made outreach efforts to bring back any of the accused who were still living as well as the families of the accused.
The witchcraft trials took a large economic toll on the town. During the trials many observers abandoned their work to attend the trials while the Town Committee neglected many civic functions. In the years following the trial the town's residents had to work increasingly hard to make up for the losses. In addition, many of the accused remained in jail because they could not pay their "release" fees to compensate the town for feeding them while they were in jail. The families of the convicted witches lost their homes and properties, driving them into poverty. Epidemics and crop failures plagued Salem for years after the end of the trials. The Puritans came to believe that God was punishing them for the deaths of innocent people and they tried to repent.
After the Salem Witch Trials the justice system of Salem came under criticism from religious leaders, writers and thinkers of the day. Thomas Maule criticized the trials in his book "Truth Held Forth and Maintained." Robert Calef published "More Wonders of the Invisible World", severely attacking Cotton Mather, a religious leader of his day, for his role in the trials. Beverly minister John Hale's book, "A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft" expressed the writer's reservations over the episode.
Samuel Sewell who served on the Court of Oyer and Terminer during the trials and was involved in sentencing the accused, apologized for his role in the trials and wrote a proclamation, asking for a day of fast, penance and reparation by the government for the wrongs perpetuated by the witchcraft trials. Other trial jurors, including Thomas Fiske, also asked forgiveness. Within Salem the town Church, led by the Reverand Joseph Green voted to reverse the excommunication of the accused. The first excommunication was reversed in 1707 and by 1712, the Salem Village Church had passed resolutions reversing judgment against all the "witches". Ann Putnam Jr., one of the young girls who started the hysteria and accused many of the "witches", publicly asked for forgiveness from the Salem Village Church.