Comparison Of Anne Hutchinson And Roger Williams: The Salem Witch Trials

At the eve of America’s creation, many colonists came to the New World seeking escape from religious persecution in England. But often, these colonists were not seeking freedom for all religions, just for their own, and were often punishing those who did not worship to their specifications. The Puritans of the New England were no exception, with the exile of Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams, and the tragedy that was the Salem Witch Trials. The governments of the New England colonies believed that those who strayed from their specific, strict standards were a civic threat and should be punished harshly Anne Hutchinson was a fiercely religious woman of time, who periodically held meetings in her house with other Christian women to discuss

Hutchinson. Williams was initially welcomed upon his arrival in 1631 by Governor Winthrop as “a godly minister” (3), But Williams despised the church’s connections to the Church of England, and he left to join the Plymouth Separatists(Pilgrims). But he later returned to Massachusetts after being disappointed with the Pilgrims, as well. He preached and declared his radical views outside of the church, angering local church officials. He believed that women need to wear veils out in public(especially in church services) to signal that they were descendants of the corrupt Eve. In addition, He questioned the red cross of St. George as a symbol on the English flag, and he believed that the king did not have the right to charter colonies since he does not own the land he is giving away. A Salem magistrate heeded Williams’ words and took the cross out of the flag of the local militia, angering other church officials. They convinced Williams to rebuke this belief, and he would not have been exiled if he had continued to keep his opinions to himself, but Winthrop was replaced by Thomas Dudley, who eventually ordered him out of the colony. He left and founded Providence Rhode Island, where he would “continue to search for further truth, briefly becoming a Baptist before abandoning the hopes for a pure church created by men and formulating a position