The United States has become a melting pot of cultures, races and religions. Immigrants flock to this great nation in hopes of a better life free of religious, racial, and political persecution and to make a better life for their families with the abundant job opportunities that America has to offer them. The United States is a great land, full of freedom and opportunity. Our Bill of Rights separated church and state, but before that time, religion was often used to dominate and control settlers.
When Anne Hutchison left England in 1634, headed for America, she dreamed of a land where she was going to be free to practice her religion freely, but instead she found that being a woman and speaking of religion would only bring heartache and persecution.
Anne Hutchison was born in Alford, Lincolnshire, England. Her actual birthdate is unknown, but she was baptized Anne Marbury on July 20, 1591. She was the daughter of Francis Marbury, a minister, and Bridgette Dryden-Marbury. She moved to London as a teenager, but returned to Alford when she married William Hutchinson at the age of twenty-one in 1612. Anne and William had fifteen children by 1630, losing three as infants. Women, during this time, usually didn’t have access to a formal education, but Anne was homeschooled because her parents believed their daughter should have an education. She was a natural thinker and loved to read. During her time, intellectualism was mainly theology and religion. Anne and her husband became followers of a puritan minister named John Cotton. Like many puritans, Cotton migrated to America and settled in Massachusetts. In 1634, The Hutchisons sailed to America, following Cotton.
Francis Marbury, Anne’s father was a deacon at Christ Church in Cambridge. He despised the political aspects of the church and was not shy about stating his opinion at their lack of competence. Because of this, he spent a year in jail because of his harsh words regarding the church. His jail time did not stop him from voicing his distaste, and he was arrested time and time again. Because of her father’s strong beliefs, Anne developed a powerful attraction to religion. During her homeschool years, Anne spent many hours absorbing the words found in books from her father’s library; most of them religious works. She realized that she had many questions that were not answered in the Bible and other religious books. She knew better than to voice her questions and concerns publicly, though. When Anne followed John Cotton to Massachusetts, she hoped that in America, she would find the answers that she was seeking and that she would be able to practice religion freely. Very soon, she realized that religious freedom was not a luxury in Massachusetts Bay, especially for a woman. Due to Hutchison’s education and her history of childbirth, she was a natural midwife and nurse. Because it was not uncommon for women to die during childbirth at this time, Anne spent much time discussing spiritual matters with the women she treated. Her views, which stated that in order for admittance into heaven, all you needed was faith, were appealing to most of the women and she was soon drawing large numbers of people to religious meetings in her home. At these meetings, they discussed the scriptures and prayed, but Anne felt that this was the perfect time to express her religious ideas. Her views were magnetic and she was soon drawing large crowds, including men to hear her speak. The strong-willed woman was soon becoming a religious leader in the eyes of many. Hutchison’s popularity, especially with men, disturbed church authorities. They thought it impossible for a man to be attracted to a woman’s mind and her ideas alone. John Winthrop, the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, saw her as a threat to religious authorities, and believed that a woman expressing her views was a danger to the Puritan way of life. In the eyes of the puritans, women were inferior to men. Their sole purpose was to tend to household affairs, serve their husbands and bear children. Anne’s views and small household meetings wouldn’t normally have been a problem, but a woman teaching her religious beliefs to men, as well as women was seen as a threat to authority and they felt she must be stopped.
Small gatherings for prayer were lawful at this time, but large groups listening to the ideas of a single religious leader outside of the church was considered disorderly conduct. So, in 1637, Anne was arrested. As a consequence of her teachings, Anne Hutchison was charged with “slandering the ministers” and “troubling the peace of the churches” and put on trial. Anne was accused of many things, including being a witch, using her devilish powers to put men under her spell so that women could come to power and rule with their abominable wickedness, and Antinomianism (one who holds that under the gospel dispensation of grace the moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation.) But, in all actuality, Anne’s only crime was being a woman and speaking her mind in a time when women were seen as subservient and didn’t have the same rights as men.
John Winthrop was her biggest adversary. He was a strict puritan and believed in predestination. Being the governor, he thought that since her views differed from his, he could punish her. He also was upset by the fact that she was acting out of her place as a woman. What followed her arrest was anything but a fair trial.
Anne was referred to as an American Jezebel who should be tried as such. Her name was slandered and her family punished. At trial Winthrop attacked her beliefs that a person’s inner faith and goodness was what warranted their entrance into heaven. He argued that only those that followed the puritan texts were worthy of the kingdom of heaven. Hutchison was very intelligent and handled her defense with poise and confidence, but with so many against her, she didn’t have much of a chance. After long hours of questioning, she was accused of slandering ministers that she had met with right to their faces. She vehemently denied the charges. She called upon John Cotton, the very person that she followed to America, to testify on her behalf as to the untruthfulness of these accusations. Cotton was hesitant. He validated the other minister’s testimony. Anne was furious and demanded the ministers have to swear on an oath that they were telling the truth. The ministers reaffirmed their former testimonies. Hutchison was allowed to make a statement, and many believe that this is where she helped seal her fate. She began to preach her doctrine and tell the court that God had revealed himself to her and told her what to do; she also called the ministers hypocrites. This was not taken lightly and the court believed that Anne had just condemned herself both civilly and religiously. Anne was sentenced to heresy and treason and banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. She was pregnant at the time and John Winthrop granted a stay of her conviction until the child was born.
On March 22, 1638, Hutchison was expelled from Massachusetts Bay Colony. She and her family relocated to Providence Plantation, Rhode Island which was settled by Roger Williams as a democratic community with no enforced church doctrine. Anne and her family were welcomed with open arms and she felt this place would be more tolerant of her religious views. Along with her new friends, she helped found the towns of Newport and Portsmouth. Four years after the family settled in Rhode Island, William Hutchison died. Anne moved herself and her six youngest children to New York.
In 1643, Anne and five of her children, along with her servants, were slaughtered by Native Americans. Anne and William’s youngest daughter, Susanna was the sole survivor and was ransomed by the Dutch after the incident. Many of Hutchison’s enemies from Massachusetts Bay believed that this brutal end was her judgment from God for her blasphemist ideas.
In 1922, a statue of Anne was erected at the Massachusetts State House. Better late than never, in 1945 her banishment was revoked by the Massachusetts state legislature. Today, Anne Hutchison is looked upon as one of the first advocates of women’s rights. Her story helps us appreciate the freedoms that we have and the hardships that our ancestors had to endure in order for us to have the rights we have today.
In America today, people are able to worship how they see fit. We are free to practice our beliefs, no matter what they may be. At one time, however, the government had the power to make life miserable for those who did not follow their beliefs. Hutchison was persecuted, not only because she had the nerve to speak out about what she believed in, but also because she was a woman living in a man’s word. Hutchison is seen as a hero to many. She helped pave the way for Americans to be able to practice any religion they choose.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

LaPlante, Eve. American Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Ann Hutchinson, the Woman Who
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Joshua Tree, CA: Tree of Life Publications, 1995. Print.
Williams, Selma R. Divine Rebel: The Life of Anne Marbury Hutchinson. New York: Holt, and
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Winship, Michael P. The times and Trials of Anne Hutchinson: Puritans Divided. Lawrence,
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