In her book, American Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, the Woman Who Defied the Puritans, Eve LaPlante explores parts of the life of Anne Hutchinson. Her intent is to tell the story of Anne Hutchinson’s life and clear her name as a woman who was accused of being a heretic in colonial America. LaPlante walks the reader through the trial Anne Hutchinson had with the leaders of her colony and gives background information throughout the book to share the story of Hutchinson’s life. LaPlante starts the story of Anne Hutchinson’s life at the beginning of her well-known trial. She tells of the occurrences in the room and compares Hutchinson’s trial to her father’s trial, which was similar in their accusation and punishment.
Throughout History, women have long struggled and fought for the same equality, justice, and rights as males in society. Historians have two opposing views of what life was like in Puritan society. One side argues that Puritan society was a golden age for women as they worked alongside their husbands, had an important role in the household. However, opposing historians argue that Puritan women were inferior to men in the society for five main reasons. Women were inferior because they were supposed to be silent company, they only received half the inheritance of their brothers, they were meant to have and take care of the children, they received harsher punishment for their wrongs, and they had to follow strict rules.
The Journey from Restrained to Independent The evolution of women’s rights has a unique history of its own. Women’s rights have evolved tremendously throughout many decades. Going back to the colonial times, English women did not have personal rights and they served as maids to their loved ones. Modern women have the freedom that our female ancestors did not have.
The pursuit of religious freedom is not a contemporary idea. For centuries many have valiantly fought against oppression and persecution in order to worship freely without restraint and judgement. Some of the earliest immigrants who migrated to this country did so with the hopes of being able to worship in a manner than aligned most closely with their religious beliefs. Many of the principles that founded this nation are based on the premise of religious freedom and toleration. Undoubtedly one of the most influential and prominent religious factions to land on these shores in pursuit of this right, were the Puritans.
In history, people most often associate important figures with men. However, what most do not realize is that women have had a major impact on the history of America. If it had not been for some of the women in history, America would not be the amazing nation it has grown to be. What is hidden behind the mysterious curtains of history is the amazing women who have shaped it. One of these amazing women went by the name of Anne Marbury Hutchinson.
Gender roles played a heavy role in colonial society, and the women who did not conform to these roles were easy targets for witchcraft accusations. Women who were post-menopausal, widowed, unmarried were not fulling their “duty” to society of bearing children and thus could come under fire (Lecture.) Those who were aggressive, out spoken, or did not do as another wished could also bring cries of “witch!” (Lecture.) This is highlighted in Cotton Mather’s Accounts of the Salem Witchcraft Trials, one of these accused women Susana Martin stands trial with many of the testifiers being men who had been wronged by Martin in some way or another.
The impact of non-Separatist people in Massachusetts and its environs. There are two distinct groups of English immigrants who arrived in American just before after the Mayflower. Although they often shared similarities, the Pilgrims (Separatists) and Puritans (Non-Separatists) differed in their opinion regarding the separation of Church and State. Edmund Morgan, in his book the Puritan Dilemma; The Story of John Winthrop, put it this way: "Rulers, however selected, received their authority from God, not from the people, and were accountable to God, not to the people (Morgan).” It is often hard to distinguish the difference between both groups as they incorporated the Bible in their everyday lives.
Men and women also had different takes on sin. Women were more likely to read their sins as a pact with the devil no matter how severe the sin was whereas men paid close attention to the sin as an individual moment of weakness in which they would be able to return to their relationship with God. Believing that they could turn to the devil themselves, women were more likely to then accept that other women could be equally demonized.
People such as John Stuart Mill were passionate advocates for women’s rights. In document 1, Mill begins by saying that traditionally, the vocation of a woman is the place of a wife and mother. He believes that one is supposed to consider of women in that way, but in truth, he recognizes that by denying women the same opportunities as men, the world is denied of the talents of women. He wrote The Subjection of Women with the help of his wife. Though he was already an advocate for fairness, his wife educated him on the real-world consequences of women’s legal submission.
In colonial North America, the lives of women were distinct and described in the roles exhibited in their inscriptions. In this book, Good Wives the roles of woman were neither simple nor insignificant. Ulrich proves in her writing that these women did it all. They were considered housewives, deputy husbands, mistresses, consorts, mothers, friendly neighbors, and last but not least, heroines. These characteristics played an important role in defining what the reality of women’s lives consisted of.
More than 80% of Americans have Puritan ancestors who emigrated to Colonial America on the Mayflower, and other ships, in the 1630’s (“Puritanism”). Puritanism had an early start due to strong main beliefs that, when challenged, caused major conflict like the Salem Witch Trials. Puritanism had an extremely rocky beginning, starting with a separation from the Roman Catholic Church. Starting in 1606, a group of villagers in Scrooby, England left the church of England and formed a congregation called the Separatist Church, and the members were called The puritans (“Pilgrims”).
Women in the 1600s to the 1800s were very harshly treated. They were seen as objects rather than people. They were stay-at-home women because people didn’t trust them to hold jobs. They were seen as little or weak. Women living in this time period had to have their fathers choose their husbands.
The life women in the American colonies was treacherous, yet rewarding. There was so much death and sickness around at the beginning of the new world it is a wonder anyone survived. Had it not been for the nurturing and healing offered by women, this country may have never gotten itself off the ground. Women took care of the home, and the family and this remained the main focal point of the American colonial women. Although women’s lives changed exponentially over the century and a half, especially during the market revolution and the second great awakening, the true belief of what a woman was remained unchanged.
while feminism is a wide spread concept today, women’s voice were hardly aired in the early centauries of America history. Some of the acts that show how much the patriarchal system worked in America include the sending of women to Virginia in 1622 (Foner 433)This act showed the dominance of men as this decision was made without the consultation of women at all. The Maryland Act Concerning Religion of 1644 also shades light of how society was governed in the early centauries. The Trial of Anne Hutchinson of 1637 became the first act of women rebellion as a few courageous women aimed to break the long history of men dominance and demanded for a few basic right which included the right to education and say over the society that they also lived in (Foner 502). This also included the right to make simple decision as the right clothes for women to wear and how women were allowed to act in
Anne Bradstreet (1612 – 1672) has been a long-lasting leading figure in the American literature who embodied a myriad of identities; she was a Puritan, poet, feminist, woman, wife, and mother. Bradstreet’s poetry was a presence of an erudite voice that animadverted the patriarchal constraints on women in the seventeenth century. In a society where women were deprived of their voices, Bradstreet tried to search for their identities. When the new settlers came to America, they struggled considerably in defining their identities. However, the women’s struggles were twice than of these new settlers; because they wanted to ascertain their identities in a new environment, and in a masculine society.
