Comparison of Three Prominent Women in American History (1616-1768)

Third, in the confrontation with Anne Hutchinson, Winthrop faced the sins of Arminianism, the belief that one could influence God and secure salvation by "preparing" oneself to receive it, and of Antinomianism, the belief that since God has predetermined who is to be saved one's behavior here on Earth does not matter, that one's sinfulness or

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

She began hosting discussions about Cotton’s sermon, but the article, "Anne Marbury Hutchinson,” clearly explained, “Gradually, the meetings shifted to critiques of Puritan beliefs about the Covenant of Works – the role of good works and adherence to religious law in salvation.” (Michal) Anne Hutchinson inserted her personal beliefs in the gatherings. As the population of the attendees increased, the attention of the wrong individuals grew as well.Due to the wrong attention Hutchinson brought on herself “the growing tensions of the era became known as the Antinomian Controversy,” (“Anne Hutchinson”) The puritan church accused Anne Hutchinson and her followers of practicing something which is opposed to the law of grace; this practice is known as Antinomianism. Despite of the trouble, Anne Hutchinson continued attempting to justify her reasons for her words. Anne Hutchinson is a figure displaying Henry David Thoreau’s belief of one doing what is necessary to stay true to the morals and

During the period of colonization, John Winthrop lead the Puritans, a new religious group, across the Atlantic to settle in Massachusetts Bay Colony. By the 1630s the colony had established a theocracy that supported its conservative culture. Sarah Vowell discusses the functionality of the Puritan community in her editorial, The Wordy Shipmates. She uses several excerpts from the play The Examination of Mrs.Anne Hutchinson at the court of  Newton, November 1637 written by Anne Hutchinson, to form her opinion. Anne Hutchinson was a leader in her community who occasionally gave sermons that challenged the authority of the church. She was called to court by John Winthrop and his council who aimed to charge her for sedition and heresy. Vowell argues that Winthrop’s claims were ungrounded and did not have any reasonable explanations, whereas Anne Hutchinson rebutted with facts. Sarah Vowell’s analysis of the Puritans in The Wordy Shipmates is legitimate, her reactions to the case are logical, and like Anne Hutchinson she is easily able to justify her position with direct quotes to answer assumptions of her audience.

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.

In 1637, gender roles in the Puritan colony were very limited for women. In the case of Anne Hutchinson, all odds seemed to be against her when she was put on trial. Trying to argue she had done nothing wrong, Hutchinson was found guilty. Despite the ministers claiming her religious beliefs were the main reason for her punishment, there seemed to be an underlying message directed towards Hutchinson. Living in a time and place where women were not in a position of power, had no political leadership, and no religious authority, Anne Hutchinson was banished from the Puritan colony due to challenging and threatening widely accepted gender norms.

After she had been charged, Anne Hutchinson was forced to go on trial in November 1637. Winthrop personally interrogated her and claimed that she was defaming the ministers. Anne was accused of questioning Bible teachings. Hutchinson fought Winthrop to prove his claim. She would answer his questions with challenging questions of her own. In result to her defiance, Winthrop condemned her teaching men in public as “not fitting for her gender.” Anne attempted to defend herself with biblical terms and by quoting Titus. She wanted to make it clear that it was up to the older women to the younger ones. Unfortunately, her fate was decided. Because Hutchinson claimed her revelations came directly from God, it showed that there was a clear case of heresy. The magistrates immediately revealed that she was to be banished from the community.

Antinomianism was Hutchinson’s argument against the Puritan clergy; therefore, it challenged the idea of salvation and the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Hutchinson originally followed the footsteps of John Cotton, who created a theology that taught that, “a moral life was sufficient grounds for salvation” (Dailey). Hutchinson held meetings at her home which discussed Cotton’s lectures that proved to be popular amongst Bay Colonists. These meetings were responsible for the uprising of Hutchinson, because this is where she gathered over sixty women to put their radical spirituality at a very controversial position. Puritan judges were very critical on anti-Puritan ideas and sent anyone to trial who attempted to interrupt the Puritan “experiment” of spreading Puritan ideas. Continuing to attack the ideas of salvation, Hutchinson’s most threatening attack was her

The Reputation of the Puritans is one of a solemn, austere people. They woke at dawn and often worked till dusk, believing that idle hands led to sin. When members of the community strayed from the puritan lifestyle, the punishments were often severe. The case of Anne Hutchinson in many ways exemplifies this. She was a Puritan woman who lived in the Massachusetts’s Bay Colony and held weekly bible studies where she and the other women would discuss the minister’s

While she did believe in God like the Puritans, she did not believe in “Covenant of Works”, or believe that salvation could be earned by or through good deeds. Instead Hutchinson believed in the “Covenant of Grace”, and according to this view God’s grace was the only way to overcome sin. With the strict laws implemented by the Puritans, Hutchinson violated many of them including laws of the family, church and colony. Aside from believing in a different covenant, women were not supposed to have any type of leadership position and she led discussions from her home. Her discussions that she led at home often criticized ministers that preached the “Covenant of Works”, which was threatening to the Puritans.

The document “the Massachusetts Bay Colony Case Against Anne Hutchinson” from Thomas Hutchinson, History of the Colony and Province of Massachusetts Bay, vol. II, 1767 and “John Winthrop’s “City Upon a Hill” from 2013 The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, both were somewhat in the same ball park, but they didn’t take place at the same time. Both documents are seven years apart, which means even though they weren’t in the same year they were in the same era. Each document took place in the Puritan Era. The Puritan Era was an era where a member of a group of Protestants arose in the 16th century within the Church of England, challenging the simplification of set guidelines and worship, and greater sternness in religious discipline.

A room full of ministers all considered her a witch, while others came to believe she was possessed by the Devil. John Winthrop, the governor, suspected that she was using her ‘demonic’ powers to control men by establishing a tight-knit community of women to foster the men 's dreadful ‘wickedness.’ Hutchinson held weekly public meetings to discuss scripture and theology, and though it started only with women, it soon became men and women. Hutchinson shared her views and interpreted passages and doctrines. Governor Winthrop described Anne as: “a woman of haughty and fierce carriage, a nimble wit and an active spirit, and a very voluble tongue.”(LaPlante 3) When it came time for her trial this is what winthrop said to her;

The banishment of Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams, due to beliefs that differed from the Puritan’s, exemplified the intolerance of individualism as accounted for in The Journal of John Winthrop. Roger Williams had been “condemned” (Winthrop 106) by “the most judicious ministers” (106) who ordered that Williams should be “convented at the next court to be censured” (106). Ordering Williams to be censured demonstrated the Puritan leaders demand of conformity, as the leaders censured him for his presumption that did not follow their anti-individualistic views. In fact, Williams had “drawn above 20 persons to his opinion,” (Winthrop 107) conveying others had similar opinions, that allowed for

     In the trial against Anne Hutchinson, she was charged, in a vague manner, to be a danger to the colony because of the spreading of her Antinomian opinions at her meetings. Throughout the entire trial Anne was slowly being backed into a corner in which ideally she would have then broken down and admitted to doing all the wrongs in which Governor Winthrop believed she was guilty of, but she never really did. The evidence against her was so weak in nature, that it seemed that Winthrop, along with all the other elders and deputies, really needed a confession to completely justify her banishment. Though unsuccessful in their efforts, even when it was brought up by the Deputy Governor that Anne went to a meeting of ministers and told them all that they preached the “covenant of works” to their very faces, Anne stayed with the Fifth Amendment technique and denied nothing,

Only three years after her arrival in 1634, Anne Hutchinson was put on trial for antinomianism and sedition. This trial became the contact zone for Hutchinson’s religious ideals and Winthrop’s hardened