American History Opposing Viewpoints Part III Phillipson PDF

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American History Opposing Viewpoints Research Paper: Anne Hutchinson: Social Reformer or Religious Heretic?

Marie Phillipson HIUS 221, Module 6 October 4, 2020

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Most of what we read about Anne Hutchinson begins only 2 years after her arrival in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634, and transpires over the 2 tumultuous years following that. It is important to note that she was always a bit of a reformer, having grown up differently than other girls in England Anne received a far better education than others because her father Francis Marbury was a priest and a school teacher. Marbury, a graduate of Cambridge University was an Anglican cleric who “openly opposed” the lack of educated Anglican ministers to the point of being sent to jail1. As a matter of fact, many relatives in Anne’s family suggested Puritan religious reforms, giving credence to Anne’s bold challenge of authority that did not first occur in the Bay Colony but rather well before in her formative years2. After marrying William Hutchinson and having 11 children, she followed preacher John Cotton from England to Massachusetts Bay Colony, who had migrated a year prior. In examining the biography of her early years, we learn that Anne had been studying the teachings of this minister and conducting home meetings to discuss his sermons for some time prior to arriving in New England. Reverend John Cotton promoted a “free grace” doctrine that was based on eternal salvation for anyone who believes that, which became known as the Antinomian Controversy, that opposed the Puritan “covenant” theology that as based in part on work3. The growing tensions threatened the order of the community and the men’s exclusive role as interpreters of the

1

“Rev. Francis Marbury.” Accessed October 4, 2020. http://www.johnpratt.com/gen/1/3/3/f_marbury.html.

2

Michals, Edited by Debra. “Anne Hutchinson.” National Women's History Museum, 2015. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/anne-hutchinson.

3

Burnham, Michelle. “Anne Hutchinson and the Economics of Antinomian Selfhood in Colonial New England,” 1997. https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/engl/9/.

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Bible.

Anne was well versed in both controversy and the alternative doctrine, and quite

used to organizing weekly meetings to discuss John Cottons teachings, prior to arriving in Boston. This is an important note to consider toward the opposing viewpoints, because New England was found on religious freedom, and that is what these believers sought. The fact that it countered the existing, sole ideology does not support the premise of religious freedom for all. Anne had also been a leader among women through her midwifery and herbal expertise when she landed in Boston in 1634 at the age of 43, she quickly developed strong ties with the local women. This initially gave her great popularity among locals who then started bringing their husbands to the meetings. Anne, who had been taught to question authority as a young girl, boldly protested against the Puritan church and her neighbor John Winthrop, the first governor and Puritan founder of New England. Winthrop considered Anne’s movement a “dangerous and seductive epidemic” to the religious future of the Massachusetts Bay Colony 4. This threatened to unseat the religious elect of Boston which in turn brought on great scrutiny of Anne, a potential woman religious heretic. At that point, she even lost the support of John Cotton who turned from defender to her opponent5. In 1637, 4 short years after arriving in New England, Anne was tried, convicted and banished from the colony. Anne and her husband moved to what is now Rhode Island and resisted the colony’s attempt to get her to renounce her beliefs. After her husband’s death she moved to Long Island Sound where she was attacked and brutally killed by Indians. Puritan elders saw this as a punitive action from God for her disobedience. Anne Hutchinson’s legacy includes a parcel of 4 Michelle Burnham, 4 5

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Bremer, Francis J. Anne Hutchinson, Troubler of the Puritan Zion Original edition. Huntington, N.Y: R.E. Krieger Pub. Co., 1981.

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land, a river and a highway in her name. Three hundred years after her banishment, Anne’s trail was considered unfair due to the mental climate it took place in and gives credence to the pursuit of absolute truth and commitment to God’s Law to protect and serve the good of all people. My original viewpoint was that of an educated woman with natural born leadership skills, operating with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit as guidance, in a male dominated world, ahead of her time, was challenging gender roles. I also see Anne Hutchinson as a social reformer, woman’s right advocate, spiritual mentor and worthy opponent to the male dominated, religious authority in her community. Was she out of context rebelling against the very system by which she was able to flee the even more rigid systems of England? Or, was she ordained to bring new thinking into the new world? Initially, I saw that the doctrine of Grace, empowered by a personal relationship with Christ was her torch to carry, and she died a martyr for that cause at the hands of those who claimed to be even more Christ-like and worthy of a calling than her. The very thing Anne Hutchinson fought for was not granted her in the end, Grace. Rather, she was judged for acts that were not considered Good in the eyes of the religious authority, the men who called themselves agents of a loving God. However, as I review more background and history, I am led to think Anne’s precepts and framework for values and principles came from a foundation of rebellion at all costs 6. She, like her father was excommunicated from the church; Francis Maybury for challenging the worthiness of an uneducated priest and she, for using her uncommon education to challenge the same theory- worthiness. Can anyone call themselves an agent of God if they don’t operate in a Spirit Led capacity? Anne Hutchinson did not think the Elders Elect of the Puritan Church were 6 3

Eve LaPlante, American Jezebel: the Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, the Woman Who Defied the Puritans (San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 2005)

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worthy of preaching a gospel that didn’t include the fullness of the New Testament, one that included the Holy Spirit. It may have been a gender issue and it may have been a merit issue but in the end, she was a pioneer of Women in Ministry, and for that, I am thankful.

Bibliography 4

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“Rev. Francis Marbury.” Accessed October 4, 2020. http://www.johnpratt.com/gen/1/3/3/f_marbury.html. Michals, Edited by Debra. “Anne Hutchinson.” National Women's History Museum, 2015. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/anne-hutchinson. Burnham, Michelle. “Anne Hutchinson and the Economics of Antinomian Selfhood in Colonial New England,” 1997. https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/engl/9/. LaPlante, Eve. American Jezebel: the Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, the Woman Who Defied the Puritans San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2004. Bremer, Francis J. Anne Hutchinson, Troubler of the Puritan Zion Original edition. Huntington, N.Y: R.E. Krieger Pub. Co., 1981.

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