Anne Hutchinson- My Hero

If you are in my class this semester, we either just talked about Anne Hutchinson or will soon be talking about her (depending on which meeting time you have) and when I saw on my "This Day in History" widget that on this day in 1634, Anne arrived in Boston after her long journey from England, I figured I'd talk a little more about her story.

Anne and her husband were both staunch Puritans. They toed the religious lines- wore black, modest clothes, were in church every time the doors were opened, pointed fingers at their sinning neighbors- and actually were assumed to be saints within the community, meaning that God had predestined them for an afterlife in Heaven.

But Anne wasn't your typical Puritan woman. When she disagreed with what the town leaders were doing in terms of running the community, she spoke out. OK, that was bad because women weren't supposed to be that outspoken, but even though the mayor gave her the side-eye, they let it slide.

Then she took it too far. When Anne disagreed with some of the things the preacher said in sermon, she once again spoke up. During Bible studies she held in her home, she said that the preacher was wrong about certain things and that this was how she would have presented that information. Oh the horrors!!! A woman voicing her opinion!!! Can't have that... it might lead to anarchy or at the very least other women voicing their opinions.

Anne was brought before the town judges on charges of heresy, an offense punishible by death. Every time Anne tried to defend herself in court, she was told to keep her mouth shut, that the learned men of the bench did not need to hear the voice of a foolish female. When they found her guilty and were on the verge of sentencing her to death, a very pregnant Anne spoke her peace. You can't blame her; she had 13 kids at home and if they hung her, the baby she was carrying would die with her.

She essentially told the judges that if they hurt her, God would punish them, their community and all the generations to come. I bow to this woman!!! She spoke with such conviction that the judges still found her guilty of heresy but rather than execute her, the banished her and her family from the Massachusetts Colony. They relocated to the newly formed Rhode Island Colony.

Sadly, Anne's story from there isn't a happy one. The stresses from the trial and from the hasty move to Rhode Island took their toll on the expectant mother and she gave birth to a stillborn child on the way to Rhode Island. The judges in Massachusetts said that this was due to the fact that she was a "monster" and "a woman not fit for society."

It didn't stop there. Less than five years after building a new life in Rhode Island, Anne's husband died suddenly. Anne simply couldn't live there anymore so she relocated to the New Netherlands Colony (which is now New York; at the time it was under Dutch control). But she didn't find peace there either. A few months later, she and 5 of her children were killed in an Indian attack.

But despite her sad story, Anne Hutchinson is still one of my heroes. I love the stories of women who didn't quite fit in with the lot in life that men had given them. We need more Anne Hutchinsons in the world today.