Anne Hutchinson's Religious Beliefs example essay topic

" Anne Hutchinson's religious beliefs started as a religious point of difference and grew in to a schism the threatened the political stability of the colony" (Behling, 2). Anne Hutchinson was born in England in 1591 (Crawford, 11-15). Hutchinson maiden name was, Anne Marbury. In 1634 she married and became Anne Hutchinson (Garman, 5).

Anne was also the mother of 15 children (Garmen, 5). In Anne's early life she greatly looked up to her father and was greatly influenced by his beliefs. "Much of Anne's later independence and willingness to speak out was due to her father's example. Anne admired her father for his defiance of traditional church principles (Buckingham, 3). Anne's father was a very loyal minister of the Anglican Church (Garmen, 5).

A man by the name of John Cotton also had great influence over Anne during this time. Cotton was a minister that Anne worshipped and looked up to for years (Buckingham, 3). Cotton got in trouble and was asked to leave in 1633. Anne thought her and her family should follow Cotton. Anne said "God had told her to follow Cotton" (Raul, 2). In 1634 Anne and her family followed Cotton to Boston (Garman, 5).

Anne was very surprised when she arrived in Boston, Massachusetts. The main reason for her journey was seeking religious freedom. Anne wanted to freely express herself under leadership of John Cotton (Buckingham, 3). During this colonial time, woman were not supposed to be speaking up about how they felt. Women were supposed to obey men at all times. Woman were also not allowed to teach religion during this time (Mayer, 1).

Anne began holding meetings in her home that focused on topics of religion (Garman, 5). The meetings that Anne was holding, became bigger in size and changed to also include men. The objectives of the meetings also changed to greatly criticize the church (Behling, 2). "Hutchinson believed, people could communicate directly with god without the use of ministers, churches and bibles" (Maier, 1). The meetings, deeply divided the colony and the leaders were getting very nervous (Maier, 1). Anne and her followers went against everything that was normal for this time.

Anne was teaching her followers to believe in an "Inner Holy Spirit" (Behling, 2). Anne was teaching woman to learn about themselves and make their religious beliefs meaningful to themselves (Buckingham, 7). Hutchinson taught woman that they could receive an answer from god if they listened. Anne became known as a radical (Buckingham, 4). Woman were always excluded from religious and government affairs (Raul, 2).

Puritan leaders were fearing that the more Anne preached, the more they would have to work to remain in control (Raul, 3). Puritan leaders were getting very nervous that the woman were gaining a sense of power for themselves (Buckingham, 7). Anne and her followers became known as "Antinomians or lawless ones" (Buckingham, 5). Antinomian also refers to, people who failed to follow the laws of the Old Testament (Commile, 605). John Winthrop, the governor of Massachusetts at this time, wanted Anne Hutchinson banished immediately (Buckingham, 6). Winthrop spoke very disrespectfully towards Hutchinson and her beliefs.

Winthrop quoted, "she shall be tried as a woman whose willful ways made her go a whoring from God, she is an American jezebel" (Crawford, 108). In 1637, people started to act against her. In August 1637, the leaders called a meeting to discuss Anne's "erroneous opinions" (Maier, 2). Anne was arrested and put on house arrest while she awaited her trial (Buckingham, 7).

During this time, Anne had a miscarriage while carrying her sixteenth child. People during this time looked at the miscarriage as a punishment towards Anne's behavior (Commile, 604). Anne went to trial on March 15, 1638 (Behling, 3). Anne was accused of many different charges while on trial. Anne was accused of breaking the 5th amendment (Behling, 3). Winthrop wanted Anne banished before she was even convicted of doing anything wrong (Buckingham, 6).

She was almost set free during her trial until she stood up and yelled out, "God said he would save me for you" (Buckingham, 6). After a long two day trial consisting of only male jurors, Anne was banished from Massachusetts (Sherr, 165). Winthrop was very proud of being the head of Anne's banishment (Buckingham, 7). Anne picked up herself and fifteen children and moved to Rhode Island in 1640 (Maier, 2). Anne later moved to Long Island where her and her family was murdered during an Indian massacre (Maier, 2). Anne's beliefs were blown up to be an attack against the church and their beliefs.

People celebrated when Anne was banished. They were quoted to saying, "divine justice" (Sherr, 165). Hutchinson's religious movements have had many influences on how we live today. If it was not for woman like Anne Hutchinson in history, we would not have rights such as freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

Bibliography

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