Anne Hutchinson and her contemporaries were ordinary people who did extraordinary things. Anne Hutchinson (1591-1643) was despised for her quick mind. She was unflinching, though she had a premonition of danger to come. She lived four-fifths of her life in her native England, but is world famous for her years in early colonial America. She was a heretic Jezebel and a living saint whose behavior and character were impeccable. She spoke as men’s equal and was silenced for it. She and her followers, persecuted for their religious beliefs, created the first secular democracy in America.
You’ll glimpse the events that made primitive America great through the eyes of eyewitnesses and journalists of the time, some who hated Mistress Hutchinson, some who admired her, and some who suspected that the massacre of 1643 that took Hutchinson’s and 16 other lives was set in motion by the theocratic government that banished her.
You’ll see why godly people risked their lives to form a secular government, to build and maintain a wall of separation that promotes peace and rejects oppression. The problem was not that people had strong religious beliefs. The problem then and now is enforcing one set of beliefs on another person or a community, or discriminating against another because of their beliefs or behaviors.
Anne Hutchinson was a Founding Mother of liberties that we hold precious 400 years later.
Anne Marbury Hutchinson is a woefully unsung giant in the creation of secular democracy. Christy K Robinson’s book goes a very long way toward refreshing the historical record of genuine religious freedom in America. She does so in a style both scholarly and eminently readable. It took 350 years for Hutchinson to be pardoned for her ‘crimes’ which amounted only to defying theological orthodoxy and the authority of male clerics. Through this work, Robinson makes it abundantly clear that people make real social change through the lessons of the very lives they live. Best we remember that today.
Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Former Executive Director, Americans United for Separation of Church and State
The tone is perfect and is the way that history should be written. The author’s voice speaks directly to the reader with humor, real content with wise use of original documents, and access to the personalities through those documents. She masterfully weaves the documents together with 21st-century English.
Rose A. Doherty, President Emerita, The Partnership of the Historic Bostons
An impressive accomplishment. Christy Robinson’s exhaustively researched account gives Anne Hutchinson her due as a martyr for religious freedom. Too many Americans today don’t know Anne’s story; this book will go a long way to correct that.
Rob Boston, Editor, Church & State magazine
There are people who can research, and people who can write, and people who can break down the barriers of historical distance. Then there are those that allow us into hearts and minds from the past. Christy Robinson does all of those things. You’ll love coming to know Mother Anne and her times through this penetrating work.
Devin D. Marks, Founding Trustee, The Anne Marbury Hutchinson Foundation; Founder and President, My TED Talks
A carefully researched accessible account of Anne Hutchinson’s remarkable life. Christy’s beautiful conversational style helps bring Anne’s story alive and makes early ‘Puritan’ theological differences much clearer. This book will make so many more people aware of her importance here in England.
Rev. Ros Latham, Vicar, St. Wilfrid’s Church of England, Alford, Lincolnshire
