uring this time, a religious revival or so called "Little Awakening" was taking place. The Puritan leaders stopped the revival by having the girls blame their supernatural visitation to a divine source rather than a demonic source. The book Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft states, "By encouraging and even exploiting the unusual behaviour of the young people in their communities; both ministers had managed to turn a potentially damaging situation to their own benefits." The Puritans did not accept any other kind of religious practice. Only the Puritan religion was allowed in the town of Salem. The witchcraft trials were used for religious edification of the community. The church clergy were able to use the trials as a device to rid the community of enemies to the church. The trials resulted in the church ministers attacking their enemies. Therefor, the trials were used against anyone with opposing views of any kind. The witchcraft trials benefited the clergy and the church officials by putting all their adversaries on trial. The trials were used to control people’s religious practices and help the minister keep control. Along with religious intolerance the trials were most importantly used to keep women oppressed. It is asked in Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth-Century New England, "Why were women (and especially women over the age of forty) singled out and punished so disproportionately?" The Puritan men exercised tremendous control over their women. Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth-Century New England states, "it is possible to interpret witch-hunting as a means of reaffirming this authority at a time when some women…were testing these constraints, and wen women without husbands or male siblings inherits property." Females were accused of being witches for owning their own businesses, not attending church, being a Quaker, being outspoken, and for owning property. Women who had risen to the top of the social ladder ...
