Anne Hutchinson Impact On Society

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Anne Hutchinson, a woman who stood up for her religious rights, even against men, was one of the most influential people during her time. Anne Hutchinson was exiled shortly after she was in an argument with John Winthrop, and 60 other people decided to tag along with her. This shows the impact Anne Hutchinson had. Those 60 people decided to give up everything to tag along with a women because they liked that she was sticking up for her religion. During Anne Hutchinson's time, no one could practice a different religion other than the Puritans religion, and Anne Hutchinson did it very boldly and bravely and ended up making a big difference in religious and women's rights and equalities. In Anne Hutchinson’s time, there was a religion in Massachusetts …show more content…

Hutchinson would hold religious meetings at her house, and many others would come. According to Biography.com, 60-80 people would come every meeting to practice her religion. She held public meetings rather then privately practicing her religion, because she knew there were others who were scared to practice their religion publicly. As a section from Mass Movements says, “When she held prayer meetings attended by both men and women, the authorities were alarmed; but what really disturbed them was her criticism of the colony's ministers and her assertion that a person could know God's will directly” (Mass Movements) That quote explains how she tell people about God’s will when the Puritan ministers tell them exactly what God thinks and does. It also explains how she criticised the ministers because she thought they were crazy for thinking that there was only one good and right …show more content…

Today in Massachusetts, religion is free by choice, meaning anyone can choose their religion and practice it however they want. Hutchinson played a large role in making sure that happened. As United States History states, “Attendance at these meetings grew rapidly.” (United States History) This shows that many other people in the Boston area were realizing that they could have freedom of religion under Anne Hutchinson, and they decided to practice another religion that they agreed in. As people started to like this religion Hutchinson was teaching, they started to transfer from the Puritan religion causing the amount of Puritan religious followers to drop. As the numbers dropped, over centuries the forced Puritan religion got weaker and weaker which made it harder and harder to force religion upon a large group of people which ties back to how nowadays people can have freedom of religion. Hutchinson was also a big factor in the shift of women’s rights. Hutchinson was put on trial because of her acts towards religion and also because she was a women teaching men. The Puritan men believed that women could not hold the power of teaching religion, especially upon men. During the trial, Hutchinson exclaimed: “Do you think it not lawful for me to teach women and why do you call me to teach the court?” (United States History)

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