Women of America: Anne Hutchinson

Anne Hutchinson and her family arrived in America on September 18, 1634 and settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  A controversial woman of religious fervor, she held meetings in her home for the women of Boston.  She taught that salvation was through faith only and not dictated by church attendance or by the laws of the church.

Her message was met with hostility and she stood trial in 1637.  Anne Hutchinson was found guilty of heresy against the Puritan tenet and banished from Massachusetts.  She, her family and 70 followers settled on the Island of Aquidneck, Rhode Island.

In 1642, she moved to Pelham Bay, New York with her children, where in 1643 she met her death in an Indian massacre.  Anna Hutchinson is noted in history as the first female religious leader of the American colonies.

You can learn more about Anne Hutchinson and the woman of America at  http://www.history.com/topics/anne-hutchinson.

Anne Hutchinson on trial: www.jssgallery.org/Other_Artists/Edwin_Austin_Abbey/Anne_Hutchinson_on_Trial.htm