Anne Hutchinson: An Outspoken Person and Religious Analizer

One foundation in the development of Colonial America was the right of religious freedom. Ironically this ideology lead to the banishment and excommunication of Anne Hutchinson from the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the Puritan church, however she and her followers migrated to Rhode Island and continued to practice their beliefs.
Her deviance from the Puritan belief that salvation is earned by “good works” and advocating that salvation is derived from “grace from God” brought attention to her weekly women’s Bible studies. She stood firm in her convictions and defied the Puritan leaders and Governor which was prohibited for women living in this era. Puritan women were not allowed to speak or think for themselves, yet Anne Hutchinson chose to fervently express her beliefs. Her views on salvation and admission to heaven created a following that threatened the Puritan ideas and would eventually lead to a new Protestant doctrine. She was a prominent figure in the realization of religious freedom, women in ministry and the feminist movement.
Anne Hutchinson was born in Alford, England in 1591 to Bridget Dryden, a schoolteacher, and Frances Marbury, a minister. She was home schooled by her parents and they wanted to make sure their children, especially the girls received an education that would be equivalent to those provided to boys during that era. By reading religious books from her father’s library, she discovered more questions than the books provided answers. Because of this extensive education, she was not afraid to question the Church’s authority in the details of doctrine.
She married William Hutchinson when she was 21 years old and they began to follow John Cotton, one of England’s leading Puritans, who was ministe...

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...at was paid for the opportunity to openly express our views both politically and religiously.

Works Cited
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Jacobs, William Jay. Great Lives, Human Rights. New York New York: Simon and Schuster. 1990. Print.
LaPlante, Eve (2004). American Jezebel, the Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, the Woman who Defied the Puritans. San Francisco: Harper Collins. 2003. Print.
Morgan, Edward. The Puritan Dilemma. “Trial and Interrogation of Anne Hutchinson (1637)” http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/bdorsey1/41docs/30-hut.html. Web. 1 Feb 2014
Winthrop, John. “Winthrop’s Journal “History of New England” 1630-1649. Vol. I. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1908 http://www.archive.org/details/winthropsjournal00wint. Web. 1 Feb 2014