Ann Hutchinson Essay, Research Paper

Ann Hutchinson

A heroine can be defined as “a woman of heroic character; a female hero”. As far back as one knows, there have been many heroines throughout history. Ann Hutchinson is one of a few famous heroines. From my opinion, she did great things while from another’s perspective she did the wrong things.

Anne Marbury was born in 1591, in the city of Alford, England. Her mother was Bridget Dryden and her father was Francis Marbury. Francis was an official at a church in Cambridge. He did not like the Church and publicly told everyone that the church ministers were not fit to work at the church. After doing this for a few years and getting tired of constant arrests, he finally chose to stop his public uprisings. When Ann turned twenty-one, she married a man named William Hutchinson. Ann and William were the parents of twelve children. Ann had always admired Minister John Cotton since he reminded her of her father. Like her father, he complained about the minister’s clergy and the cleanliness of the Church and always talked about the religious opportunities in America.

When New England was formed, Cotton took his chance and traveled there in search of religious freedom. In 1634, Ann Hutchinson took her family and followed him to Massachusetts. To her surprise, New England turned out to be more strict religiously than England. She was not welcome in New England because of her unorthodox views.

Ann was told not to speak publicly about her views. She only expressed them in her own

home where she sometimes invited women to share her ideas. The governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony was John Winthrop. John did not like Ann Hutchinson because of her religious views and her conferences with women. He made a law that didn’t allow female conferences. Anne Hutchinson was arrested for violating the law and brought to trial. Winthrop, then banished her from Massachusetts, calling her a heretic and an American Jezebel. She defended herself by quoting from the Bible. She was then forced out of the church and excommunicated from Massachusetts. She and her family then moved to Rhode Island, were they lived for awhile till Indians killed her and her family.

One might say, that Ann Hutchinson was a very brave and independent woman who fought for what she believed in no matter what the consequences were. To me, I consider her one of my role models, and I hope to be as strong and brave as she was. It must have been hard for her, to live in a world where men did not care about women except for marrying them and having children. An example of Ann being brave is when she cursed at her own trial. I think she wanted everyone to know that whatever they did to her, death or banishment, she would still believe that what she had done was right. Ann isn’t famous for what she did; she is just another name in a book.

Whenever someone is a hero or a heroine, there is always another who doesn’t think they are fit for the name. In this case, the person who disliked Ann was John Winthrop. He didn’t like how she met with women in her own home, when she was told not to speak about her views publicly. I think John was scared that if Ann kept talking about her views of the Church, everyone who attended her meetings would have the same feelings as she did and there would be a problem in the colony.

In conclusion, Ann Hutchinson is considered a heroine to me because of her bravery and independence. A heroine has both those qualities. If there were never any hero’s or heroines then this world would be a scary place.