Anne Hutchinson And The Free Grace Controversy

The change she was trying to represent was women becoming more powerful in the society. The Puritans were afraid of her. They didn’t want her to get any more powerful. Besides Anne’s meetings being seen as unorthodox by some of the colony's ministers, differing religious opinions within the colony eventually became public debates. The resulting religious tension erupted into what has traditionally been called the Antinomian Controversy, but has more recently been labelled the Free Grace Controversy. In 1635, John Willison, the senior pastor of the church, returned from a lengthy trip to England where he had been settling his affairs. Upon his return he found out Hutchinson was teaching. Exposed to John Wilsons teaching for the first time,

Bostonians received a new ally when the Reverend John Wheelwright arrived from England, and immediately aligned himself with Cotton, Anne Hutchinson and other "free grace" advocates. This really helped Anne Hutchinson. John Wheelwright was not only a close neighbor of Anne Hutchinson, but his wife is a sister of Anne Hutchinson’s husband. More people were beginning to follow Anne Hutchinson and her allies. When the young Henry Vane was elected as the governor of the colony, it was another boost for the free grace advocates. Henry Vane was a strong supporter of Anne Hutchinson and he also had his own beliefs that were considered unorthodox as

John Wheelwright was convicted, but not yet sentenced, for contempt and sedition. Henry Vane was replaced as governor by John Winthrop. In addition, all the other Boston magistrates who supported Hutchinson and Wheelwright were voted out of office. On 2 November, they sentenced Wheelwright to banishment, ordering him to leave the colony within 14 days. Several of the other supporters of Hutchinson and Wheelwright were tried and given varied sentences. Following these trials, it was Anne Hutchinson's turn to be