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Anne Hutchinson and staunch Puritan leader John Winthrop tangle in court. Hutchinson is banned and moves on to Rhode Island.
Anne Hutchinson was the dissenter this time. Her preaching appeared to not hold with the traditional Puritan religious doctrines. The staunch Puritans of New England and the Massachusetts clergy considered her words to be an attack on their rigid moral and legal codes. Winthrop in, Hutchinson outAfter John Winthrop became governor in 1637, Anne Hutchinson was tried by the General Court of Massachusetts on charges that she was basically saying the Puritan religious leaders were wrong. Religious freedom was yet to become a part of early American life. Hutchinson was found guilty. She was excommunicated from the church and banished from the colony. Coddington and Gorton Follow HutchinsonTwo loyal and important persons followed Hutchinson when she was ousted from Massachusetts. William Coddington was a wealthy merchant who was a stockholder in the Massachusetts Bay Company. The other gentleman was William Gorton. Although Gorton was a man of strong convictions, his primary conviction was that any view or opinion that did not agree with his was absolutely wrong. Portsmouth EstablishedThese were the strong-willed leaders that marched into the wilderness and founded Portsmouth. But soon dissention was a major player once more when Hutchinson, supported by Gorton, removed Coddington from his judgeship. Newport FoundedThe removed Coddington went on his way and founded Newport in 1639. But dissention continued to dance a merry jig as Hutchinson and Gorton disagreed and parted company. The result was that Gorton, who for many years found no friendly haven in New England, finally established his own domain at Warwick, on the western shore of Narragansett Bay. Colonial America series continues on July 9, 2006, with: Previous: More American Distension . Source: Carson, Clarence B. A Basic History of the United States, volume 1: The Colonial Experience, 1607-1774. American Textbook Committee, Wadley, Alabama, 1987.
The copyright of the article American Distension Spreads in American History is owned by Mary Trotter Kion. Permission to republish American Distension Spreads in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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