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 Hutchinson (1591-1643) came to New England in 1634 with her husband and twelve children. She began discussion groups after the Sunday sermon and soon gained a large following that caught the attention of the local magis¬trates. They tried her for heresy, excommunicated her, and banished her.
Her theological views were complicated, controversial, and potentially dangerous, but still within the broad framework of orthodox Christianity. But her doctrines appeared to eliminate the need for the externals of institutionalized belief and law, and so were considered an attack on the rigid moral codes of the New England Puritans. (Microsoft Encarta Reference Library 2002)
She took her family and nearly 70 followers and settled on the island of Aquidneck, Rhode Island, founding the town of Portsmouth and establishing its first civil government. When her husband died, she moved to what would later become the Bronx, New York. In 1634, Native Americans attacked and killed her and all but one of her family.
Hutchinson was a maverick certainly, but she was a Christian and not a heretic. The Puritan lead¬ership could not find a way to maintain their authority while also allowing for individ¬ual differences and freedom of conscience. Because they could not reconcile the twin principles of authority (typified in the Puritan clergy) and liberty (typified by Hutchinson), the Puritan society began deteriorating by the end of the 17th century.
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