Beliefs In Anne Hutchinson's Life At Massachusetts Bay

New England was known for having more educated people than any other colony, because they valued religion so much, since the ministers wanted the the knowledge of God to be passed down from generation to generation, the Puritans created Harvard. They believed that passing the knowledge of God down would please God.(Doc 4) The Puritans were known for being religiously intolerant; they only believed in their religion and did not accept any other. This was another social impact of the New England colonies. Nathaniel Ward believed that if people were religiously tolerant they either doubted their religion or were insincere about it(Doc 6). Ward believed that religious tolerance could start conflict throughout New England. He wanted the state and church to be together. Nathaniel Ward’s statement started controversy. Roger Williams completely disagreed with Nathaniel Ward’s statement. Williams believed that religious tolerance was a great thing. (Doc 5) Williams wanted others to see his way and join him. A woman named Anne Hutchinson questioned the ways of the Puritans. She disagreed with the Puritan government. She quickly left the New England colony after receiving backlash from the Puritans. Roger Williams decided to create his own colony called Rhode Island. in Rhode Island all religions were accepted as long as everybody worked they had a say in what went on in the

The Threat of Anne Hutcherson Anne Hutchinson was a Free Grace advocate, more commonly known as an Antinomian. Antinomians believed in “the covenant of grace” instead of the Puritan idea of predeterminism. This caused conflict between the leaders of the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony and Hutcherson. The leaders saw Hutcherson as a threat to Puritan society because she went beyond the traditional role of a woman, deemphasized the values of the Puritan church, and thus began to take power away from the Puritan church.

Anne Hutchinson was a remarkable colonial woman who first came to Massachusetts in the fall of 1634. She is less remembered for her contributions in the new world as a wife, mother of fourteen, and midwife to many than for her eventual trial and banishment from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. I was interested in writing a paper on a colonial woman and chose Anne Hutchinson after a "Google" search turned up a very good review on a recent book about her life. I have been intrigued by the fact that the Puritans came to America to practice their religion freely, yet allowed no freedom to question their

In the seventeenth century, the Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded as a haven for Puritans, who sought religious freedom and harmony. In order to achieve this haven, the settlers in Massachusetts Bay devised a system of government that would serve as both a political and moral authority. Between 1636 and 1638 the relative harmony of the Massachusetts Bay Colony was shaken by an uprising that has become known as the Antinomian Controversy. At the center of this controversy was Anne Hutchinson, a Boston woman bold enough to challenge the teachings of local ministers and to criticize New England churches. Hutchinson was extraordinary for a variety of reasons.

     Unlike the Chesapeake, the New England colonies were greatly interested in their long-term colonization efforts. A man by the name of John Winthrop led the Puritans, which composed the New England colonies. He believed that their colony was “a city on the hill,” as described in the book of Matthew. The Puritans were a fervent religious colony, where the church was never disputed. There were some historical cases when the Puritan people would speak out and therefore speak out against the church; the story of Anne Hutchinson was just such a case. She held weekly meetings in her home where her and her husband would interpret the bible for their followers. In addition she noted that not all the clergy would be saved and attacked many of their teachings. She was banished and took her husband and seven kids to Road Island where religion was not as strict. The New England colonies survived on exporting lumber, grain and the production of ships. The Puritans wanted to be the model society; they did

In 1630, Bradstreet’s family with Earl Lincoln and many other Puritans sailed to New England to escape from the religious injustice of Catholic Church ruled by Charles I. After Anne’s family passed the danger of crossing the Atlantic Ocean, they faced the tragedy of rough life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In A Jury of Her Peers Elaine Showalter described the grievous and harsh life of women in the colony:

Anne Hutchinson: Puritan Prophet is a novel that tells the story of a puritan who fought for religion. She fought for the belief of predestination and of free grace. Hall uses her life to tell the story of religion and how her inspiration got religion to where it is in modern day. He shows us how Hutchinson’s courage to speak her thoughts helped make free religion which was a new concept for the world. Anne Hutchinson fought hard for what she believed in. She faced the humiliation of being banished just so the world can have free grace.

In Puritan led Massachusetts Bay Colony during the days of Anne Hutchinson was an intriguing place to have lived. It was designed ideally as a holy mission in the New World called the "city upon a hill," a mission to provide a prime example of how protestant lives should have subsisted of. A key ingredient to the success of the Puritan community was the cohesion of the community as a whole, which was created by a high level of conformity in the colony. Puritan leaders provided leadership for all facets of life; socially, economically, religiously, and even politically. A certain hierarchy was very apparent in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, in which ministers always seemed to have gotten their way.

extremist of sorts when it came to the role of women under the Puritan religion.

Anne Hutchinson held meetings at her house on Sundays to recall what had been said during the church sermon as well as to add her own ideas and thoughts on the topics that were being discussed. At first this seemed very normal but when her teachings began influencing people to pull away from the other Puritans, Winthrop recognized this as a problem. Anne Hutchinson taught others of her numerous propositions, which opposed the purpose of this excursion to New England. Morgan states that, Mrs. Hutchinson’s beliefs, “…threatened the fundamental conviction on which the Puritans built their state, their churches, and their daily lives, namely that God’s will could be discovered only through the bible” (Morgan). Anne Hutchinson was in fact an Antinomian, she opposed the fixed meaning of God’s moral law that Winthrop had worked so hard to teach these people. As a result, Mrs. Hutchinson was causing a huge threat to the settlers. She was trying to manipulate others to share her religious beliefs. Winthrop would not tolerate such behavior, as she was behaving sinfully, she must be punished accordingly or else as Winthrop believed, they would all suffer from God’s wrath. Winthrop took Mrs. Hutchinson to a court hearing and after a long, battle it was decided by the court that Mrs. Hutchinson was to be banished from Massachusetts. Mrs. Hutchinson was set as an example for the others who may

Anne Hutchinson is considered the future because her beliefs are those ones, which we are living. God’s words have been interpreted for every single human and as soon as they can identify any group’s religion in mutual agreement, different groups in faith will be formed. People believe what they want, and at this time is absolutely absurd to imprison people in just one concept. This is the freedom time; we are in America , a multicultural nation. Like Obama’s said in his Inaugural Address in 2009, “We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth,” I am so proud of this, this is really fascinating. At the end, Anne and George were

The book Anne Hutchinson: Puritan Prophet, by Timothy D. Hall, tells the story of a strong-willed woman whose faith and intellect brought her about to play a major role in early New England Puritan life. Hall tries to answer many questions surrounding Hutchinson throughout the book to try and bring clarity to a powerful historic event.

In the trial of Anne Hutchinson, we meet a well intentioned yet lost people described and labelled as the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Company. These self governing Puritans, once a people who sought God to set them on their way, settled only to be found as a people who simply lost their way. This journey to lost began when first motivated by a desire for religious reform and separation from the liturgy, ceremonies and practices of the Church of England. Once they banned together, they set on their way and traveled in groups to the New World. With the Word of God as their ultimate authority and the desire for a personal relationship with God, these people landed in Boston in 1630 united to self govern the newly founded Massachussets Bay Colony. Unfortunatly, this self rule resulted in a government of intolerance, fear and a liturgy not much different from what was once found in the Church of England. A system designed to set apart outward morality, or sanctification, to strengthen the authority of the Church only worked to neglect the place of true piety purposed to strengthen the spiritual lives of the people it served.

Several parallels can be drawn between Anne and Hester’s personalities, such as strength, independent thinking, defiance of Puritan beliefs, and confidence, especially in the seemingly proud and dignified way they behaved during their public trials. They were both considered threats to the foundations of the Puritan establishment because they were challenging and stepping out of their rightful place as women in a patriarchal society. Dexter’s report on Anne’s trial is a historical document that supports the idea that being a woman in that society was inherently condemning. On the first day of trial, John Cotton, English clergyman at the Massachusetts Bay Colony, advises the women he believes have been corrupted by Anne in the meetings she held to talk about religion. He says: “Let not the good you have received from her, make you to receive all for good that comes from her; for you see she is but a Woman and many unsound and dangerous principles are held by her”. His words suggest that women and unreliable and the fact that Anne is a woman takes away her credibility.

She was self taught and learned also by reading the books within her father’s library. Her family was middle class and members of the church. Her father was a reverend. She married William Hutchinson a magistrate in the colony. Hutchinson like many other women played a role in child bearing as a midwife. She held the same roles within the household as other women. It was her actions outside of the household that Hutchinson was held accountable for. Hutchinson began following the sermons of John Cotton, an outspoken advocate of self-determination of congregational government. Following this ideology Hutchinson started hosting meetings that presented theological interpretations of sermons and scriptures; ideas that contradicted with the Puritan religion. The church found her a threat to the commonwealth. The meetings were not only appealing to men but to women as well. Many listened to what she had to say and the church feared that people who begin to follow her as well. Hutchinson had stepped beyond a gender role that during the early 17th century was were considered inappropriate for women. As a woman she was allowed to express religious experiences but was not supposed to go around teaching their own interpretation of God’s word. When placed on trial Hutchinson spoke open mindedly, but within context of male hierarchy. She was challenging the ministers therefore, challenging government due to the large ties between the