Anne Hutchinson Preaching in her house in Boston
Unknown Artist. Anne Hutchinson Preaching in her house in Boston, 1901. Library of Congress.
Background
Anne Hutchinson and her husband William were Puritans, a religious minority group that faced persecution in England. To protect themselves and their eleven children, the Hutchinsons made the difficult journey across the Atlantic to live in the Puritan-friendly Massachusetts colony. They arrived in Boston in 1634.
Anne worked as a midwife in Boston, and she soon established close relationships with a large network of Puritan women. Contrary to Puritan teachings, Anne believed that women could interpret the Bible just like men, so she started to host meetings where women could read and interpret the Bible together. Her meetings became so popular that men started to attend. This concerned Puritan leaders, who believed only men had the intelligence and authority to interpret the Bible. They saw Anne as a threat to their community because she was acting outside of their expectations of women.
Anne became more radical over time. Soon she was openly questioning Puritan leaders. In 1637 she was charged with heresy. In court, Anne defended herself by quoting directly from the Bible, but this did not sway the Puritan men who were overseeing her trial. She was convicted and expelled from the Massachusetts colony in March of 1638. Anne moved to Rhode Island with her family and many of her followers moved with her. Today, Anne is remembered as one of the first women to become a religious leader in the American colonies and as an early advocate for religious freedom.
About the Artifacts
The image depicts Anne Hutchinson preaching at one of the meetings in her home. Her listeners include women as well as men. The drawing appeared in Harper’s Weekly in 1901, almost three hundred years after her death. No images of Anne Hutchinson or her gatherings were made during her lifetime, so the image is a rich source for thinking about how Anne Hutchinson has been depicted and remembered over time.
Vocabulary
- Bible: The holy book for all Christian faiths.
- Christianity: The group of religions based on the teachings of Jesus Christ.
- Harper’s Weekly: A popular weekly newspaper.
- heresy: A belief or practice that is contrary to a religion’s teachings.
- midwife: A woman trained to deliver babies.
- persecution: The unfair treatment of a person or a group because of their religious beliefs.
- Puritans: A group of English Protestants who left England for the New World to start their own settlements where religion would govern daily life.
Discussion Questions
- How did Anne Hutchinson become a religious leader?
- Why did the Puritan leaders think Anne Hutchinson was a threat to their community? How did Anne Hutchinson respond?
- What does the story of Anne Hutchinson reveal about life in early Massachusetts?
- What story does this image tell about Anne Hutchinson? What does that tell us about the creator and the time when it was made?
Suggested Activities
- APUSH Connection: 2.3 The Regions of British Colonies
- Include this image in a lesson about early Massachusetts. This resource illustrates how Puritan beliefs were central to daily life and governance in the colony.
- Combine this resource with Life Story: Mary Dyer and Life Story: Lady Deborah Moody, two other women who defied religious authority in the Massachusetts colony.
- Learn more about the role of religion in daily life in Puritan New England by combining this resource with Ornaments for the Daughters of Zion and Connecticut Witch Trials.
- For a larger lesson on how religion played an important role in women’s lives during the colonial era, teach this resource alongside any of the following:
Themes
POWER AND POLITICS; IMMIGRATION, MIGRATION, AND SETTLEMENT
