Spiritual leader Anne Hutchinson questioned established religious beliefs.
Hutchinson confronted the Puritan leaders and exposed the "flaws" they were re-instilling
in the church and its members. She confronted Governor Winthrop, accusing him of
imposing his own views on the populace rather than letting them choose for themselves.
Winthrop thought Anne would split the church apart. Because of her father, Anne had a
lot more education when she was younger. Her father was indeed Francis Marbury, a
Puritan reformer who attended Cambridge. Her father was imprisoned and accused of
heresy in the late 1570s; his daughter would subsequently face the same accusations for
defying the Puritan's "Truths from religion." Anne married William Hutchinson, her
childhood best friend, on August 9, 1612.
After being married, they relocated to Alford and began going to a new church where
Reverend John Cotton was the pastor. Hutchinson started praying every day in her home because
Anne was so inspired by Cotton's teachings that she started mentoring him. However, Cotton was
threatened with imprisonment because of his opinions and convictions, so he escaped to the
Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1633. Anne, who was devastated that her mentor had abandoned
her, attempted to convince her husband William to go to England to accompany Cotton to the
"New World." William eventually consented after considerable thought to it, and as a result, their
family relocated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in September 1634. Anne became a midwife
and mostly served the moms she came across while William carried on with his clothing
business. Both Cotton and the Hutchinsons had been flourishing up until 1636 when they openly
opposed the Puritan leaders and their teachings.
Because Anne was contradicting what they were saying and motivating people to turn
against the church and its leaders, Governor John Winthrop considered Anne a danger. Not to
mention a danger to the Bay Colony of Massachusetts. John Wilson, the pastor of a Boston
church, served as one of the clergymen and pastors with whom Anne met to discuss challenging
their teachings. The trial of Hutchinson proceeded in November of 1637. Against Governor
Winthrop, Anne was a very intelligent and smart woman. “Even while some of your educated
Scrollers may be more knowledgeable about Scripture, I would much prefer to hear someone
who speaks simply from the movement of the spirit and without any study at all" (Johnson 96).
Hutchinson was filled with spiritual knowledge. And guidance from her teacher John Cotton
along with her father.
The starting point of Hutchinson's trial was a ritual. The magistrates, elected officials, and
clergy were taking part in the court. These people came together to rebel against Hutchinson
because of her lack of respect for their beliefs. However, Anne Hutchinson faced the authorities
head-on with bravery, using speech to fight back. Before she ever entered the courtroom,
Winthrop tried to get conclusive proof against Hutchinson's trial to preserve his position of
control. After an exceptionally tense argument, Hutchinson pointed out how the magistrates had
misread both 17th-century laws and the teachings of religion. Anne's trial was mostly prolonged
because she disputed the framework and content of the process, which failed to please the public.
In the end, Hutchinson rejected the preachers' sermons and claimed that God had communicated
with her "by a sudden vision."
The reason for the trial was quickly called into doubt by Hutchinson's statement that she
had not heard about any specific crimes brought against her and the fact that conducting women's
meetings was not illegal. Hutchinson was brought on trial by Winthrop and the other magistrates,
who also demanded her with concerns about specifics of her meetings to portray her as a rebel
who ought to be expelled. Before the trial ever began, the magistrates wanted to accuse
Hutchinson of rebellion; but they were not ready for the methods that Hutchinson was going to
use to back up her conduct and put suspicion on the reliability of the court system.
Hutchinson successfully revealed the way the logically based obligations in the
courtroom are compatible, portraying the magistrates' execution of the law as ritual. Hutchinson
intentionally placed pressure on the examiners to open Wilson's 1636 meeting notebook, take
vows, and carefully assess whether they could use evidence collected in private for the public's
benefit. She additionally brought up questions about whether Wilson deserved to have been
placed on trial in the first place. When she contested the magistrates' ability to serve as official
representatives and so overturned the roles they played in the courtroom, she interrupted the
tradition. Hutchinson wanted Winthrop to show her the evidence of her error rather than
allowing him to use unsupported assertions to be the core of the trial.
I think that Anne Hutchinson's trial was a complete waste of time because what she did
resulted in nothing illegal. She was just having meetings with other people about the religion and
the colony made it seem like she was committing a huge crime when she was doing what she
was allowed to do, believe in any religion she wanted to. She did not have to be dragged into the
beliefs of the Puritans. Hutchinson’s life is very interesting and fascinating because she stands up
against some of the “highest” in the government throws stuff right back into their faces and
makes them look silly in front of the public. Anne Hutchinson’s trial did not keep her silent or
her influence on people, but instead provoked her to rise up and speak against the false beliefs
being spread throughout the church.
Bibliography
McGunigal, Lisa. The Criminal Trial of Anne Hutchinson: Ritual, Religion, and Law. Mosaic:
An Interdisciplinary Critical Journal. June 2016. Accessed Date: November 26, 2023.
https://www.proquest.com/docview/1794902624?accountid=12085&pq-origsite=summon.
Brooks, Rebecca. Who Was Anne Hutchinson? History of Massachusetts Blog. January 26, 2015.
Accessed Date: December 3, 2023.
https://historyofmassachusetts.org/anne-hutchinson/.
Curtis, Edith. Anne Hutchinson: A biography. Hathi Trust.
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31822021442892&seq=28.
