The Trial of Anne Hutchinson
A Puritan Female Leader Defends Her Theological Views
In the annals of early colonial history, few women have been held up as champions of women’s rights and free speech as Anne Hutchinson. A Puritan “goodwife” who arrived in New England in 1634, Hutchinson swiftly challenged the Puritan hierarchy on the basis of theological orthodoxy for which she was put on trial and banished from the colony on charges of heresy. Although Hutchinson never deviated from the Protestant view of the proper role of women, her intelligence, boldness, and spirited defense has made her a symbol of feminism among women’s groups.
Puritan New England in 1634
At the time Hutchinson arrived from England, Puritan leaders were in the process of creating a hierarchy of authority in order to govern the growing colony’s “godly communities.” At the center of this authority was John Winthrop’s vision of a “city on a hill” and his teachings that Puritan New England was the inheritor of the Old Testament covenants. According to Winthrop, “the God of Israel is among us.”
Any challenge to prevailing theological views could be viewed as a threat to the peace and blessing of God bestowed on the commonwealth. If, in Old Testament perspectives, the entire community fell under God’s covenants, any attempts to divide community solidarity were dangerous, heretical, and had the ability to divide, inviting the displeasure of God. This was Anne Hutchinson single greatest sin.
The Covenant of Grace and the Covenant of Works
According to the covenant of grace, people were “saved” solely by the power of God. This conformed to John Calvin’s views on “Irresistible Grace” and “Limited Atonement.” Good works or living a moral life was no proof of salvation. Life-long church attendance, acting in kindness to neighbors and strangers, and following the Ten Commandments meant nothing in terms of the covenant of grace: salvation was a gift of God with no strings attached.
Puritan leaders in 1634, however, as part of their efforts to organize communities and establish authority, emphasized that conversion resulted in an ordered society that practiced morality and followed the virtuous dictates of righteous living. To Anne Hutchinson, this sounded like the covenant of works. Her home meetings that attracted between 60-80 women weekly, focusing on the sermons of John Cotton who decried the covenant of works and accused other New England clergymen of embracing that belief. One of the key charges at the trial of Anne Hutchinson focused on these meetings.
The Trial of Anne Hutchinson
Anne Hutchinson’s trial was presided over by Governor John Winthrop who asked her many questions, hoping to trap her into a confession of heresy. There was no jury. Although the charges were weak, the deputy governor, in the court transcript, referred to her “strange opinions” and how these opinions had created religious factions that threatened the fabric of the commonwealth.
Winthrop’s opening statement accused Hutchinson of having “troubled the peace of the commonwealth and the churches…” Yet in all of her responses to the many questions, Hutchinson never wavered and frequently used scripture to answer her accusers. It was not until the last day of her trial that Hutchinson gave the court a reason to rule against her. She claimed to have received personal revelation from God and the Holy Ghost.
Anne Hutchinson was excommunicated and banished from the commonwealth, moving to Rhode Island. Several years later she and her family moved to New York where they were killed by Indians.
Were the Puritan Leaders Correct?
Puritans came to New England to establish their own communities in order to worship as they saw fit. Toleration of other views did not fit into this plan. Hutchinson’s claims threatened the colony at the very time Puritan leaders were attempting to organize the colony. Her actions were seen as fermenting disharmony. From this perspective, John Winthrop was justified in silencing and banishing the dissident.
Sources:
- Trial Transcripts from Thomas Hutchinson, The History of the Colony and Province of Massachusetts Bay, Lawrence Shaw Mayo, Editor (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1936) Vol II, reprinted in Discovering the American Past 5th Ed., William Wheeler and Susan Becker (Houghton Mifflin Co., 2002)
- James A. Morone, Hellfire Nation: The Politics of Sin in American History (Yale University Press, 2003)
Trial of Anne Hutchinson
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