Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson
Roger Williams and Ann Hutchinson
Roger Williams
Over the years many people have broken the rules. Roger Williams and Ann Hutchinson did that too as they broke away from the church. Many people are know for their religious rebellion, Roger Williams and Ann Hutchinson are two of them. They are known as people who broke away from the church because they had different beliefs. They had difficult and stressful lives.
Roger Williams was born in London, in 1603, and went to school there. In 1629, Williams married Mary Barnard. In 1630, Williams and his wife sailed to Massachusetts. When they arrived in Massachusetts, Williams immediately started looking for a church. He wanted to become a minister, but he refused to serve as a minister to the Boston Church because he thought they were following the Anglican Church too closely. He didn't believe in the ways of the Anglican Church
After thinking about his choices, Williams though about joining the Church in Salem, but then decided to move to Plymouth. Williams did not like the Plymouth church so in 1633, he became the assistant minister in Salem.
In 1634, the Salem Church chose Williams as their official minister. Williams thought that the English had no right to American land because the English King had different religious beliefs.
In 1635, Williams was kicked out of Massachusetts for his teachings, so he moved to Rhode Island. There he founded Providence. He worked as a farmer and Indian Trader. He also started writing a dictionary titled A Key into the Language of America (1643) which he thought would help people convert Indians after the second coming of Christ.
Williams made very strict rules for Providence, the colony he created, because he didn't want anyone to sin in the colony he created. In 1643, he went to England to get a charter for Providence. A charter is a written grant from a country following certain rights and privileges for a person or corporation. Providence was in trouble the people were fighting with themselves as well as other colonies.
When Williams returned he united the colony, and became its President. Williams continued to have religious problems, so he became a seeker,- a person that has no official religion. Williams died in 1683. He was an old man, in his home in Providence.
Anne Hutchinson
Anne Marbury Hutchinson was born in Alford, Lincolinshire in 1519. She followed her fathers religious way. She was treated badly for failing to go to weekly prayer meetings. She began to start having meetings in her own name. Her group was called Antinomians, they were the people who denied the laws that were made. This was called treason and she was brought to trial. She refused to change her views and she was banished from the colony.
In 1638 she headed for Rhode Island. Rhode Island was a refuge for people who were in search of religious freedom. She believed that a person could find inner truth and divine guidance without the help of a minister or church.
Her husband died in 1642 and she moved with her children to Long Island and then to New York. In 1643 Hutchinson and all but one of her children were killed in an Indian Attack. It was a sad end for an important religious dissenter. She made an important step toward the achievement of religious freedom.
Williams and Hutchinson did many important things. They gave other people the chance to have more religious freedom. They also started colonies, this helped people settle the land. So in a way they helped gain religious freedom and helped people settle in America.
Work Cited
1) Moments in History #73-Roger Williams, American Colonial Dissenter Part II, http://www.users.bigpond.com/billmastermind/moments73.htm, Bill Fitzgerald Copyright 2001
2) Moments In History Anne Hutchinson http://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/22629.html The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2000, Columbia University Press.
3) Roger http://www.encyclopedia.com/articlesnew/13880.html, The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2000
4) Anne Hutchinson Encyclopedia of World Biography, Copywrite 1998, Gale Research, Pages 69-70.
Created By Elliott and Hayley
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