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However, in Winthrop's situation, the matter of survival was so acutely important that a strong-fisted rule was thought to be necessary.
He expresses, more than once, in the trial transcript his fears that the entire colonial civilization could fall over this one woman's outspoken beliefs. Banishment was the only appropriate punishment, since it would remove her from the small, sealed world of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and ensure that she could not sway peoples' minds toward this outrageous idea of grace.
It is almost comical to consider that now, in 2008, we see crowds of Christians waving their hands in the air to feel the grace of God, an experience they believe is attainable simply through their faith. This is the exact kind of personal grace that Anne Hutchinson's teachings offered, but for which she was banished.
There may have been some merit to John Winthrop's fear of her. The colonies were finally thriving, but only after this dedicated, cohesive group had been there long enough under their set of established rules to survive a few winters.
Winthrop's primary goal was to run a tight ship and set an example for the world, and he was not about to let a mere woman steer the entire colony off course. After all, women were at the root of all evil ever since Eve...
48). As much as Anne threatened the stability of the colony, she was perceived as a threat to the authority of men in her apparent power and influence over too many people. Linda Kerber states that, "When Hutchinson was held up to public ridicule and exiled, explicit dissent by women was firmly squelched in the Puritan community." Winthrop further sealed the wisdom of his decision with the fact that Anne miscarried a monstrous child after leaving the colony.
Works Cited
Ayto, John Dictionary of Word Origins, Arcade Publishing, New York: 1990.
Hawthorne, John the Scarlet Letter, Bantam Classics, New York: 1981
Kerber, Linda K. And Sherron DeHart Women's America, Refocusing the Past. Oxford University Press. New York: 1995
Young, Ralph, Ph.D. Dissent in America, the Voices That Shaped a Nation. Pearson/Longman, Publishers. New York: 2006
U.S. Library of Congress "Religion and the Founding of a Republic www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion
Winthrop, John "The Journal of John Winthrop" Wayne Franklin, Ed. Norton Anthology of American Literature, W.W. Norton, Publisher. PA: 1998
Works Cited
Ayto, John Dictionary of Word Origins, Arcade Publishing, New York: 1990.
Hawthorne, John the Scarlet Letter, Bantam Classics, New York: 1981
Kerber, Linda K. And Sherron DeHart Women's America, Refocusing the Past. Oxford University Press. New York: 1995
Young, Ralph, Ph.D. Dissent in America, the Voices That Shaped a Nation. Pearson/Longman, Publishers. New York: 2006
As her meetings became increasingly well-attended (men and women participated) they also became controversial because she was teaching religious and spiritual values that bucked the system. Those that supported her theories and her right to hold these twice-a-week meetings became polarized from those who questioned her right to go against traditional church teachings. If you questioned the Church, then you also questioned the State, Reuben explains. She was put on
Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is a fictionalized account of life in puritan New England. Although the story is an amalgamation of characters, places, and events, the journals of Hawthorne's contemporaries and forebears reveals a sinister connection between real life in seventeenth century Massachusetts and the tragedy of Hester Prynne's life. Prynne is in fact a symbol of all women living under Puritan patriarchal rule. Through Hawthorne's foresight, her story
These conditions were evident in a letter to his wife, where Winthrop described wintertime as "weather being cold and the waters perilous," and the difficulty of finding logs to burn for warmth. The Puritan colonies survived, due in large part to Winthrop's efforts at both instilling this culture of discipline, and in addressing any growing factionalism within the ranks. Such actions have indeed been a double-edged sword, for they planted
RE: Topic 6: The American War for Independence – Treason or Justified Rebellion? Treason or justified rebellion? Well, both! Ultimately we need to decide what kind of world we want to live in and what kind of country we want to give to our children. Dear citizen, Jenny is right: “We free citizens of these thirteen colonies must no longer stand idly by and endure such offensives, but instead come together!”
It is possible that early American history would be taught very differently today if based on history books such as this. To play devil's advocate, there perhaps would have been women historians who agreed with the men's decisions, women historians who did not believe in the actions of their fellow females. Those histories, too, would have had an impact on today's perspective of that period. Similarly, what would have happened
Wayward Puritans: A Study in the Sociology of Deviance by Kai T. Erickson. Specifically, it will contain an extra chapter to "Wayward Puritans" demonstrating how the study illustrates the social control approach to deviance. The Puritan society of early New England is an excellent example of how a small society carefully controlled deviant behavior that frightened them. The Social Control Approach The sociological and historical study of the Puritans and their