Caroline B. Johnson
November 20, 2023
HIUS 221—D16
The Trial of Anne Hutchison: Heretical Teacher or Guardian of Religious Liberty
The websites provided for this assignment describe the trial of Anne Hutchison. The
websites point out that Hutchison did not have a fair trial. The court had already decided she was
guilty before the trial, so they were just trying to get Hutchison to say something that would
prove she was guilty. They even had ministers take her words and twist them to mean something
that Hutchison did not mean. Despite all this, Hutchison used Scripture to defend herself. At this
point, the court decided they did not have the grounds to punish her. However, when the court
came to this conclusion, Hutchison began to repeat her teachings to the court. The court found
this to be evidence that she was guilty, so she was banned from the colonies.
I found it interesting how Hutchison was able to use Scripture to defend herself. The
court was trying to punish her because she was teaching a group of women a different doctrine
than the traditional Puritan beliefs. When the court tried her for this, she was able to reference
Scripture that speaks of elder women instructing the younger women. This almost convinced the
court of her innocence. However, when she told them she had a revelation directly from God, she
was found guilty.
