Anne Hutchinson Introduction to the Essay

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She held regular "meetings" -- discussion groups that reinterpreted doctrine. She believed, for instance, in the Free Grace model -- the saved could sin, then ask for forgiveness, without endangering their salvation. She also claimed she could identify the spiritual elect, causing many to view her as a heretic (Ibid).

Trials- Finally, the religious community could tolerate no more. Hutchinson was gathering new followers; women were blatantly defying Puritan rules, and in 1637 she was brought to civil trial in the General Court of Massachusetts on the charge of "traducing the ministers." This Court included government officials and Puritan clergy. Despite being 46 and in the advanced stages of her 15th pregnancy, she was forced to stand for several days of interrogation before an all-male board who tried desperately to get her to admit to blasphemy and tempting mothers to neglect the care of their own families (Anne Hutchinson - Trial at the Court of Newton, 2002).

Hutchinson, despite jeers from the crowd and admonitions that she had stepped out of her place, defended herself quite well:

...you have no power over my body, neither can you do me any harme, for I am in the hands of the eternall Jehovah my Saviour, I am at his appointment, the bounds of my habitation are cast in heaven, no further doe I esteeme of any mortal man than creatures in his hand, I feare none but the great Jehovah, which hath foretold me of these things, and I doe verily beleeve that he will deliver me out of our hands, therefore take heed how you proceed against me; for I know that for this you goe about to doe to me, God will ruine you and your posterity, and this whole state (Ibid).

Despite this, she was banish from the colony as not being fit for the colony and imprisoned awaiting her religious trial.

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This portion of the trial took place in March 1638 in the First Church of Boston. The charges were focused on lewd and lascivious conduct (men and women in her house at the same time), and blasphemy based on her Biblical interpretations. She was found guilty and excommunicated from the Puritan Church. She and her husband formed a small group and relocated to Portsmouth where there were a number of political and social issues until William's death in 1642 (LaPlante). After William's death, Anne moved to New Nethlands (modern day Bronx, New York) where because of mistreatment by the ruling Dutch, she and her family were all killed by Native tribes.

Conclusions -- From the contemporary perspective, Hutchinson's ideas were certainly controversial and progressive for her time. From Christian feminism and modern liberal thinking, however, her views were nothing short of trying to correct an inequity of gender, and the social tolerance of differing interpretations and opinions about scripture. Some literary critics even trace the character of Hester Prynne in the Scarlett Letter to Hutchinson's persecution. However, what is clear is that she was a courageous woman with ideas out of time; someone who anticipated greater tolerance and freedom and who may have set the stage for futher liberalization of the Puritan Church within the American colonies.

REFERENCES

Anne Hutchinson - Trial at the Court of Newton. (2002, December 5). Retrieved December 2010, from Anne Hutchinson.com: http://www.annehutchinson.com/anne_hutchinson_trial_001.htm

Coffey, J. And P. Lim. (2008). The Cambridge Companion to Puritanism.

Fraser, J. (2000). Between Church and State. New York: Macmillan.

Gomes, P. (2002, Nocember-December). Anne Hutchinson. Retrieved December 2010, from Harvard Magazine: http://harvardmagazine.com/2002/11/anne-hutchinson.html

LaPlante, E. (2004). American Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, the Woman Who Defied the Puritans. San Francisco: Harper.

Mather, Cotton. (2008). "The Cotton Mather Home Page." The Hall of….....

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