Puritans feared that a tolerant society would have low moral standards and banned Quakers, Baptists, Catholics and Religious Dissenters.
Anne Hutchinson attracted many prominent followers at religious discussions in her home where she challenged the teachings of ministers. Feeling became so intense that the colony was at risk for a violent split. She was banished and eventually killed by Indians in New York. Examining trial records today many feel that Governor John Winthrop was particularly frustrated at being challenged by an intelligent and clever woman, remarking: “We do not mean to discourse with members of your sex.”
Jargon Deciphered
Anne Hutchinson’s dissent was called the Antinomian controversy. “Antinomian” means “against the norm.”
- Edwin Austin Abbey
At Issue
At the center of the controversy was the Calvinist belief that salvation could not be earned. Some feared that there would be no incentive for good behavior. They argued that moral behavior might be an outward manifestation of God’s grace. Anne Hutchinson disagreed. In a subtle way her argument could undermine the position of prominent leaders who claimed that relative wealth and status were signs of God’s favor. Her claim that God revealed truth to her was seen as blasphemy.
An Impressive Lineage
Descendants of Anne Hutchinson include Oliver
Wendell Holmes, Franklin Roosevelt, the Bush
family, and Mitt Romney. In the 2004 Presidential
election John Winthrop’s descendant John Kerry
ran against Anne Hutchinson’s descendant
George W. Bush
End of an Era
In 1691 William and Mary issued a new
charter for the Province of Massachusetts
Bay that combined the Plimoth and
Massachusetts colonies. The Puritan
experiment was over but the cultural
influence
remained. It
is a complex
legacy. Along
with warnings
against the
dangers of
intolerance
there are enduring institutions, founded
in seventeenth century Massachusetts
that helped to create a culture of reform
in later generations. Democratic
practices, higher education, scientific
inquiry, and economic innovation are
often overlooked as progressive legacies
from early Massachusetts.
- On display in the Treasures Gallery
Mary Dyer
Mary Dyer was a follower
of Anne Hutchinson. Later
she became a Quaker. Early
Quakers were often disruptive,
sometimes interrupting
sermons or public meetings.
Dyer was expelled from the
colony several times and
warned that returning would
mean the death penalty. It is apparent that
she was seeking martyrdom and was hanged
on June 1, 1660
Onesimus
An African man, Onesimus, enslaved in
the home of Cotton Mather, told of the
African practice of inoculation to protect
against disease. The method was eventually
introduced in Boston and was effective
against small pox. Several prominent
families held enslaved Indians and Africans
as servants.