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Anne Hutchinson

 

             It is 1638, and the Massachusetts Bay colony is in a time when its" community is in a religious uproar. The Puritan Europeans had left their homeland to seek a new religious freedom. They wanted to be the beacon of light and be a perfect example of what a Protestant world should be. When many of the people questioned this image of a "perfect world", actions had to be taken to secure their way of life and preserve the colony. A group of people called Antinomians said that the ministers were teaching the covenant of works and not that salvation is given freely by God. Anne Hutchinson was had many of the same beliefs. Anne was a very out spoken woman who was not afraid to share her point of view. Because she challenged the order of the Puritan community, held different theological views and challenged male authority, she was banished from the colony. Although many of these actions contributed to the banishment of Anne Hutchinson, the main reason is that she challenged the male authority and her role as a woman in the colony. .
             One of the factors that lead to her banishment was that the Puritan community order was threatened. One of the strongest beliefs of the community was that there needed to be conformity. "The covenant meant that the entire community must follow God's laws as interpreted by Puritan leaders. If they did, God would reward them; if not, the community would be punished" (31). By this, Anne was challenging the community and the leaders. She was blemishing the image of their perfect world. Although this contributed to her banishment, this was not the main reason. She was not the only one who felt this way, yet she was banished and not them.
             Anne also began to hold different views from the Puritan leaders and ministers. It was said that she felt that the ministers were teaching the people that doing good deeds will gain you salvation. In this time, that was a very serious accusation.


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