Badass Women of Early America: Anne Hutchinson

Welcome to another edition of Badass Women in Early America. This post’s woman is Anne Hutchinson, a Puritan woman from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. But to know about Anne Hutchinson, first you have to know about John Cotton.

Cotton was a very prolific Puritan preacher in England, one of the upper class who lived a life of privilege (this will be important later). He was so protected by his status that he was able to stay and preach in England at a time when many Puritans had to flee for their lives. Of course, eventually that protection runs out and he has to flee in the middle of the night with his wife and baby to New England.

But in New England, Cotton is a rockstar. It’s the equivalent of a literature nerd having Shakespeare or Jane Austen come live in their neighborhood (or basement). These people are stoked to have their beloved minister in their presence. And Anne Hutchinson is one of his most devout followers.

Now Cotton isn’t intentionally a bad guy. And really, on the scale of evil, he’s nowhere near madman or evil genius. He’s closer to the bottom, around schmuck. Because of his status, he had nothing to do with his life but intellectualize and form theories about religion. Which he then preached to the community of Puritans. But he never expected his principles to go beyond hypothetical and become something people applied to their lives.

This is what Anne Hutchinson did. She took those theories and put them into practice. At this time, women were not allowed to be preachers (just look what happened to Anne Bradstreet’s sister, Sarah). So instead of preaching, she held prayer meetings, which was perfectly permissible for women.

At these meetings, she discussed Cotton’s ideas and about putting them into practice. These meetings gained popularity so that she had two meetings every day and about a quarter of the population was coming to see her. She became a leader for a group that would be called Anti-Nomians, those against the law.

Of course, this freaked out John Winthrop, the governor at the time (whose second in command was Thomas Dudley, Anne Bradstreet’s father. Yes, the guy who was a zealot and liked to hit people who disagreed with him). Winthrop was very concerned about the community being unified and Anne’s meetings made his dissention meter redline. There was only one thing for him to do.

He had her put on trial for being an Anti-Nomian. Okay, here is a short cheat sheet about the Anti-Nomians. They believed that they had a mission that surpassed religion and rules and anything but their call from their God. Their communication with God didn't need ministers or the Bible. Basically, they had one calling and whatever they needed to do to fulfill that calling was what they would do. The ends justify the means and damn the consequences.

And here's the thing about Anne. She wasn't saying anything that John Cotton hadn't said before. And she wasn't trying to make Cotton look bad or pawn it all off on him. She genuinely believed his ideas had sound merit and wants to put them into practice. And even Winthrop kind of knows that the charges he's laid against her are kind of sketchy.

But Anne also knew her bible and her religion. And she was a skilled and eloquent orator. After every statement she made, she asked Winthrop a question which drove him insane. He said, "I am not on trial madam." And she had the perfect answer every time.

Now, most trials in New England took forty seconds before you were convicted and sentenced (they didn’t really believe in the whole “innocent until proven guilty” mindset). Anne’s trial took two days. Two days of Winthrop and Dudley questioning her over and over again, trying to back her into a corner. Two days before she finally slipped up and gave Winthrop something he could use against her.

You may be asking yourself at this point “Where’s John Cotton? Surely he can speak for Anne.” Uh…no. Remember the whole being a schmuck on the scale of evil thing? Winthrop and Dudley first confronted Cotton about his teachings. And he was so horrified at what was happening that he retracted everything he ever said. He never said it and it he did say it, that’s not what he meant. He backpedaled so far and fast it’s amazing he didn’t create a time rift that sent him back to the age of dinosaurs.

So Cotton was absolutely no help in this matter. But after two days of questioning, Anne misstepped in her testimony. She said she had a direct conversation with God, which is not something the Puritans do. Winthrop leapt on it like a drowning man. He banished her from the colony, sending her to Portsmouth. And the worst part of the ordeal? Cotton, her beloved minister, is the one to deliver her sentencing.

So Anne is sent to Portsmouth to live out the rest of her days. At forty-six, she has her 16th pregnancy (which is a lot for anyone, but at forty-six in the 17th century I'm wondering why she's not dead yet) and she miscarries (my Lit. teacher told us it was Hydati Form Mole and to look it up in our own time, but I'm afraid to since it sounds terrible. So look it up at your own risk). Winthrop feels like this is evidence that God has deserted Anne.

The really galling thing? Nothing ever happens to Cotton. There are no consequences for him having started this or for his role in what happened. He stopped preaching, but basically that's all that happened to him. But his life was probably miserable

Even after being banished, Anne never gave up her beliefs. She didn't change who she was or what she believed simply because people told her she was wrong. Maybe that just makes her stubborn, but it also shows strength of character and conviction. Standing up for what you believe in, no matter the consequences, shows true backbone.