HIUS 221
Anne Hutchinson:
Heretical Teacher or Guardian of Religious Liberty
Delaney Rowe
HIUS 221: Survey of American History I
March 27, 2023
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Anne Hutchinson was a spiritual leader who challenged religious doctrines. She was born
in 1591 in Lincolnshire, England. Her father, Francis Marbury was an English cleric and a
Puritan minister, who was considered to be a heretic. He was prosecuted twice, once before Anne
was born and again in 1591 for critiziing the church sentencing him to 3 years of house arrest.
Growing up Francis as a father led Anne to have more education than the average woman. In
1612 Anne married her childhood friend William Hutchinson and moved to Alford where she
worked as a midwife. She became an avid follower of the local minister John Cotton who
“preached that mercy is preordained by God, but damnation is determined by earthly behavior”. 1
With Cotton’s approval Anne would spread his message leading to more women becoming
churchgoers. In 1626 King Charles the first persecuted the Protestant which lead to puritans
fleeing, he than began to move England away from puritanism. British closed the borders of
Massachusetts believing they were against the king of England.
Anne and her family and several others moved to Boston in 1634 to escape abuse with
the consent of the King. Anne began to hold meetings to discuss Cottons sermons, which
eventually attracted both men and women. During this time Huttchinson preached that sin did
not impact whether a person would go to heaven and that anyone who believed in God could go
to heaven. This belief was a direct contradiction to the Puritan doctrine. Anne began to gain a lot
of attention and after about a year the elders of the colony including John Cotton and the
Governor feared that Anne was going to cause separation of the church so they forbid her from
having gatherings. The elders felt that “her stance against sin could promote dissension in the
1History.com Editors. “Anne Hutchinsion- Significanve, beliefs, banishment-history” Accessed March 25, 2021.
https://www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/anne-hutchinson
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colony and encourage people to refuse to work and act against church and colony rules”. She
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did not listen to the authorities and continued to hold religious gatherings.
In 1637 Anne was ordered to appear in court where Governor Winthrop oversaw and
John Cotton testified as a witness against Anne. At this trial Anne claimed that God spok to her
directly and claimed she could interpret the scripture. She was brought to trial for three charges ,
Winthrop charged her with breaking the fifth commandment because she admitted people who
had signed the “seditious petition on behald of Wheelwright” therefore dishonoring the fathers
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of the Commonwealth, Her response was that she entertained everyone as children of God
without prejuduice of their transgressions. Next Winthrop claimed that scripture clearly forbades
women from teaching publicly and holding meetings to which Anne relied that her home is not
public. The final charge was that she was defaming authorized ministers to which she replied
claiming she received direct revelations from God. Anne was proclaimed a heretic and was
banished from the colony. March of 1638 Anne and her family left for Rhode Island. In 1642 her
husband died and the authorities from Massachusetts came to force Anne into renouncing her
beliefs. She once again escaped moving to New Amsterdam on Long Island Sound. In 1643 the
Hutchinson family was attacked and Anne died.
Prior to the readings I had no knowledge of Anne Hutchinson or the life she led. I found
the articles to be interesting and was ultimately intrigued by Anne. In my opinion Anne was
greatly influenced by her father, Frances Maubury, and John Cotton the minester. Her father
taught her to stand up for what she believed in and growing up with a hertic father I believe
2History.com Editors. “Anne Hutchinsion- Significanve, beliefs, banishment-history” Accessed March 25, 2021.
https://www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/anne-hutchinson
2. Westerkamp. The passion of Anne Hutchinson an extraordinary women, the Puritan patriarchs, and the
world they made and lost. Oxford University Press, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central.
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allowed her to have a different perspective on church authorities. Once she began teaching
scripture and gained a following the men of the colony were threatened by her. The men feared
what she was teaching and how it would impact the colony. Westkamp stated in her book that the
Deputy Governor complained that three years prior the colonty was peaceful and the moment
that Anne came to Boston there was unrest, therefore she is the source. Due to this the
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Winthrop, deputy governeor and their colleagues needed to find a high grievance in order for
them to get rid of Anne. The church feared Anne and believed her teachings underminded the
authority of the church because if people believed that God deals with his children directly then
there was no need for the minister and church. In order to quell stop the split of the colony and
keep power Winthrop and his colleagues brought Anne up on public charges. McGunigal in her
article said that the trial was used as a forum to publicly challenge Anne. While I believe that
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Anne was using her religious liberty to speek on the Bible I also believe that she might have
taken it too far by publicly shaming the clergy. But ultimately the trial was a scam and more of a
ritual than an actual criminal trial. According to McGunigal when Winthrop used the magistrates
private conversations with Anne against her that was not a legal judicial proceeding. The
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authorities used anything and everything to try and discredit Anne. I found it inspiring how she
confidently evaded Winthrops attempts to have her incriminate herself and was able to combat
his biblical recitings with her own. But ultimately her public claim of direct communication with
God was a challenge that directly opposed the ministers authority and allowed for the authorities
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2. Westerkamp. The passion of Anne Hutchinson an extraordinary women, the Puritan patriarchs, and the
world they made and lost. Oxford University Press, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central.
3. McGunigal, Lisa. "The Criminal Trial of Anne Hutchinson: Ritual, Religion, and Law." Mosaic : A Journal
for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature 49, no. 2 (06, 2016): 149-66,
https://go.openathens.net/redirector/liberty.edu?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/criminal-
trial-anne-hutchinson-ritual-religion/docview/1794902624/se-2.
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to banish her. I respect Annes actions, her expression of thoughts, and how she was not scared of
anyone elses opinion. Anne stood up for what she believed in and was punished for it because
she was a woman. Winthrop took every opportunity to discredit and persecute Anne, even
continuing to do so after she left the colony. He spread rumors that her still born was a demon
and Cotton preached that God was punishing Anne. And after her husbands death the authorities
attempted to coerce and force Anne to renounce her beliefs. In todays standards this would be
defamation, stalking and coercion. I believe that God was using Anne to enable others to better
understand the Word and to begin to question what they belived in. By Anne claiming to speak
directly with God it allowed others to question if a personal relationship with God was possible
and therefore enabling growth of a better understanding of God and his word.
Bibliography
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History.com Editors. “Anne Hutchinsion- Significanve, beliefs, banishment-history” Accessed
March 25, 2021. https://www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/anne-hutchinson
McGunigal, Lisa. "The Criminal Trial of Anne Hutchinson: Ritual, Religion, and Law." Mosaic :
A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature 49, no. 2 (06, 2016): 149-66,
https://go.openathens.net/redirector/liberty.edu?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-
journals/criminal-trial-anne-hutchinson-ritual-religion/docview/1794902624/se-2.
Westerkamp. The passion of Anne Hutchinson an extraordinary women, the Puritan patriarchs,
and the world they made and lost. Oxford University Press, 2021. ProQuest Ebook
Central.
