Hanging tree (United States)

A long time ago in the United States, there were some trees called "hanging trees" that were used for a very sad thing. People who did bad things, like stealing or hurting others, could be punished by hanging. To do this, a big rope was put around the person's neck and they were hanged from the tree until they died. This was a very scary and painful punishment, and it was done in public so that everyone could see and learn from it. Nowadays, we understand that this was not a good way to treat people, and we have laws that protect everyone's rights and safety.