What Was The Difference Between Hutchinson And Mary Rowlandson

In the 17th century, many Puritans emigrated to the New World, where they tried to create a brand new society. They moved to New World because they were being persecuted in England for their religious beliefs, and they were escaping to America. The women were immigrating to America to be the wives of the settlers this demonstrates that women were expected to live in the household for the rest of their lives. Women in Puritan society fulfilled a number of different roles. History has identified many women who have had different experiences when voicing their beliefs and making a step out of their echelon within society’s social sphere. Among these women are Anne Hutchinson, and Mary Rowlandson. And in this essay I will

share with you some information about the lives and dificulties of Puritan woman in New England..
First of all I want to think is the freedom was attainable for Puritan woman, or not?

Before reading our textbooks “Voice of freedom” and “Give me Liberty” I thought the freedom was attainable, because Puritan left England for America looking for religious freedom. And the colony’s formation was predicated on the idea of religious freedom, however everyone was to follow the direction of the elders, and women, in particular, were to play a submissive and supporting role. When they arrived in America they tried to build a holy community where people would live by the rules of the Bible. They tried to reform the official English church. They demanded to replace the Catholic principles with Protestant ones. Their reformist ideas, undermining the unity of the church, threatened to split the whole society and weaken the royal power. After reading the story about Anne Hutchinson in our book “Voices of freedom” from page 33 and in «Give Me Liberty» from page 75, I understood that religious liberty for others was not part of the Puritans' plan. Anne Hutchinson was a Puritan woman who spread her own interpretations of the Bible. Anne spoke that God’s grace could be directly bestowed through faith. This went against the Puritan ministers’ view, which dictated that people must live according to the Bible’s precepts. She was put on trial for her theological views and for stepping outside the bounds assigned to women. And then she and most of her children were

killed.
The conclusion we can make from Anne’s story is that the women can not be the church leaders, women were believed to be more disciplined and more moral. Women did not participate in town meetings and were excluded from decision making in the church. And of course, women were subordinate to men. Married women were not allowed to possess property, sign contracts, or conduct business. Their husbands owned everything. Only widows could own property and run their own businesses. What was really interesting for me to learn is that Women were viewed as instruments of Satan. They believed that Eve’s role in original sin exemplified woman’s inherent moral weakness. So, women were much more susceptible to temptations, and that they possessed qualities that could be exploited and become sinful.
Another group who were not allowed to practice their religion were the Quakers, (we can find this information in the chapter 3), I learned that many people belived in magic, astrology, and witchcraft was widespread in 17-th century and many Puritan woman «belived in supernatural interventionism in the affairs of the world».

Alsг, I read that two Quaker women called Ann Austin and Mary Fisher arrived in the colony However, they were not even allowed to set foot on dry land before their possessions were searched and many of their books deemed heretical and taken away from them. They were taken to prison where they were treated like

witches.
Everybody knows that Puritan’s family were very big. And in chapter 2 of the book ‘Give Me Liberty’, we can find more information about Puritan’s family. On page «69» says: «Puritans in America carefully emulated the family structure of England, insisting that the obedience of women, children, and servant to men’s will was the foundation of social stability». As we can see the society believed that men played a patriarchal role upon women, and that this role was instituted by God. A woman was to love, obey and further the interests and will of her husband. I learned that women and children were treated harshly in the Puritan commonwealth. Girls were regarded as the property of their parents. If any child was disobedient to his parents, any magistrate could punish him with a maximum of ten lashes for each offense. Women acted as farm hands, tending their vegetable gardens; as wives, responsible for caring for their husbands; and as mothers, producing and guiding the next generation of Puritan children. In addition, although their legal rights were limited, some Puritan women were able to become the breadwinners of their families through the sale of goods they produced or animals they raised.
The interaction they have had with others living in the colonies was not really good, for example the Native American and Puritan religious beliefs were extremely different. The Puritans thought that a person should not do anything on Sunday, but go to church and pray. The Native Americans did many activities such as hunt, and attend social meetings. And they didn’t like each other and had a really bad relationship.
The last question that I will talk about is what is the difference between Puritans and Pilgrims? As I read on page 67 that the first Puritans to emigrate to America were a group known as the Pilgrims. Pilgrims and Puritans have a similar ancestry, shared history, and goals. For me, there are two main differences. Puritans were the establishment which differed in degrees with the Church of England, but Pilgrims were entirely separatists. As such, Puritans sought to be and became the dominant force in England and in America, were as the original Pilgrims who emigrated to escape persecution wanted no relationship with institutions of the state and sought no role in the wider society.