Hutchinson, Anne Marbury

Hutchinson, Anne Marbury

1591

Alford, Lincolnshire, England

c. 1643

Pelham Bay Park, New York

Religious leader

"If God give me a gift of Prophecy, I may use it."

Anne Marbury Hutchinson.

Anne Marbury Hutchinson was a religious rebel whose ideas threatened the rule of the Puritan government in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. (The Puritans were a religious group who believed in strict moral and spiritual codes.) Born in England, she received a strong religious education as a young woman and was later influenced by the Puritan preachings of John Cotton (see entry). She was particularly inspired by Cotton's concept of the Covenant of Grace (see below). After emigrating (moving from one country to another) to Boston in 1634, Hutchinson began to preach her own extreme version of the Covenant of Grace during private meetings with other Puritans. Eventually her following grew, creating a division in the colony that had social as well as religious repercussions. By the time Hutchinson went to trial for heresy (violation of accepted religious beliefs or doctrines) in 1638 she had already made a major impact on colonial American history.

Influenced by Her Father

Anne Hutchinson was born in Alford, Lincolnshire, England, in 1591. She was baptized into the Anglican faith(the official religion of England, also known as the Church of England).