Anne Hutchinson Who Started a Women’s Rights Movement

The article “The Trials of Anne Hutchinson: An Account”, written by Douglas Linder, establishes the idea that it was a crime to disagree with Puritan ideology in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Linder’s thesis was well supported with evidence by using credible sources to create a concise article explaining why and how the trials took place, as well as Linder including an outside opinion that helps readers understand why Anne Hutchinson’s trial is important to society today.

Douglas Linder’s main focus in “The Trials of Anne Hutchinson: An Account”, looks at religion in Massachusetts Bay Colony, during the 1630s. The questioning of Puritan principles was dangerous for anyone and could cause people to get excommunicated, criminally convicted and banished. Despite the consequences, Anne Hutchinson’s trial proved to help others accept religious differences.

The author of “The Trials of Anne Hutchinson: An Account”, Douglas Linder, is a professor at the University of Missouri- Kansas City. Linder teaches a seminar on many famous trials, so he spends time to research information about how and why people have been on trial. He has developed a clear understanding of how to write these articles since he was done well with his previous work. He frequently visits the national archives to find and read transcripts for his work. Through research about the author and his goals, it was announced that he visits the National Archives and other archival libraries where transcripts are found for his article entry. Linder has included many links to show the sources he used, such as a book titled Short Story of the Rise, Reign and Ruin of the Antinomians written by John Winthrop, a Governor of the Colony who prosecuted Anne Hutchinson, in 1644. The short story supports Linder’s thesis statement that questioning the Puritan principles has serious consequences and Hutchinson banishment was justified. The short story briefly explained how Anne Hutchinson’s death gave the Churches rest from her religious disturbance to the colony. Linder also included the “Examination of Mrs. Ann[e] Hutchinson at the Court at Newtown” which is the appendix of “The history of the province of Massachusetts-Bay” by Thomas Hutchinson, which shows the conversations between Governor Winthrop and Anne Hutchinson at the trial. Many parts of this source were used in Linder’s article to show conversation and explain how Anne Hutchinson debated with the prosecutors.

Linder’s final thoughts about Anne Hutchinson’s trial was insightful and written concisely. He touched upon the idea that Hutchinson was given the “chance to address not only her entire colony, but posterity—an opportunity few women in the 1600s could ever hope to enjoy,” unknowingly making her a feminist. According to the journal article The Political Trial of Anne Hutchinson written by Ann Fairfax Withington and Jack Schwartz, Anne Hutchinson rebelled against the “passive role that women were expected to fulfill in a male-dominated society”. Women of the Massachusetts Bay Colony were unable to receive recognition on a social level, which is proven in the transcript of the trials when John Winthrop states that gathering women was “not tolerable nor comely in the sight of God nor fitting for your sex”.

Hutchinson started a women’s rights movement which is very important for women in society today. This trial has opened my mind to believe that women can learn that our words have power, and those in power fear women will likewise inspire other women to rebel and stand up for our beliefs.

Linder’s article “The Trials of Anne Hutchinson: An Account” was well written as his thesis was well supported with evidence by using primary sources that explained why and how the trials took place, as well as including the idea that Anne Hutchinson unknowingly started a women’s rights movement and this idea is currently relevant and important to our society.

Bibliography

1. Linder, Douglas. 2019. “The Trial of Anne Hutchinson (1637): An Account.” Famous-Trials.Com. 2019. https://www.famous-trials.com/hutchinson/2395-hutchinson-1637-account.
2. Withington, Ann Fairfax, and Jack Schwartz. 1978. “The Political Trial of Anne Hutchinson.” The New England Quarterly 51 (2): 226–40. https://doi.org/10.2307/364308.