Score: ______/ Women Leaders: Unit 2
Reading Study Guide
by Kathleen Eilers crandall

Anne Hutchinson

(1591 - 1643)

On Trial for Thinking for Herself

Directions:

  • Read the paragraphs in the left column. Notice the bold words.
  • Then fill in the blanks in the right column. Some are done for you as examples.
  • Then reread the paragraphs, and try to answer the critical thought questions at the end of this passage.

A woman preaching? The men in the little town of Boston looked at each other in horror as the news went from one to another. Was it possible? /
  1. preaching
  • part-of-speechv(I)
  • definitiongiving a religious lecture
  1. one (__man__) to another (__man__)
  2. Was it ( a woman preaching__) possible?

"It could be," said one man. "My wife goes one afternoon each week to the home of Mistress Anne Hutchinson, and she comes back very thoughtful." /
  1. It (______) could be possible ,
  2. she (______)
  3. thoughtful
  4. part-of-speech ______
  5. definition ______
    ______

Another man said, "My wife does the same." /
  1. the same (__thing__)
    What does his wife do?(also goes to the Hutchinson house one afternoon each week)

Still another said, "Half the women in Boston go to Mistress Hutchinson's one afternoon each week.It is true; they take their sewing and quilting. But I do hear that Mistress Hutchinson talks about the Sunday sermons." /
  1. another (______)
  2. It (women going to Anne Hutchinson's home)
  3. quilting
  4. part-of-speech ______
  5. definition ______
    ______
  6. I (______)
  1. sermons
  2. part-of-speech ______
  3. definition ______
    ______

Another said, "She does more than that. My wife let it fall that Mistress Hutchinson says we Puritans are too hard on people of other faiths. She says also that we should not use Indians as slaves." /
  1. She (______)
  2. that (______)
  3. let it fall
  4. part-of-speechverb expression
  5. definitionsaid something, but shouldn't have
  6. Puritans
  7. part-of-speech ______
  8. definition ______
    ______
  9. too hard on
  10. part-of-speechadj. expression
  11. definition not fair to
  12. faiths
  13. part-of-speech ______
  14. definition ______
    ______

Some of the others cried out, "What?" /
  1. others (______)

The man went on. "Yes, yes, and I think she has other dangerous views, but when my wife saw my face she would say no more." /
  1. went on
  2. part-of-speechverb expression
  3. definition continued talking
  4. views
  5. part-of-speech ______
  6. definition ______
    ______

"This must be stopped!" said one of the men. "How dare a woman put forth such ideas?" Soon they decided that one of Boston's most important preachers, the Reverend John Cotton, should speak to Anne Hutchinson. /
  1. This (______)
  2. put forth
  3. part-of-speechverb expression
  4. definition say; suggest
  5. they (______)
  1. Reverend
  2. part-of-speech ______
  3. definition ______
    ______

"Is it true?" the Reverend Cotton asked Anne Hutchinson. "Are you preaching to the women at these afternoon meetings?" /
  1. it (______)

Anne Hutchinson shook her head. She was a small, lively person who admired the Reverend Cotton very much. In fact, she and her husband had left England and brought their family to America to settle in Boston just because the Reverend Cotton had done so. /
  1. lively
  2. part-of-speech ______
  3. definition ______
    ______
  4. admired
  5. part-of-speech ______
  6. definition ______
    ______
  7. she (______)
  8. their (______)
  9. settle
  10. part-of-speech ______
  11. definition ______
    ______
  12. done so (done also) What had the Reverend Cotton done? ______

"Oh no, sir," she said, "you could never call it preaching. I talk -- we all talk -- about the Sunday sermons. We study the Bible. And sometimes I try to explain some of its words when it seems that God had given me a sign." /
  1. it ( what Anne does when she and the other women meet at her house )
  2. its (______)
  3. sign
  4. part-of-speech ______
  5. definition ______
    ______

The Reverend Cotton looked shocked. "You think that God gives you signs?" Anne Hutchinson nodded. The Reverend Cotton said, "But this is terrible. Only ministers can receive signs from God. Certainly no woman can. Say you are mistaken.Otherwise you must be tried by the court. You may be sent away from Boston. Say you are mistaken." /
  1. nodded
  2. part-of-speech ______
  3. definition ______
    ______
  4. this ( Anne receiving signs from God)
  5. ministers
  6. part-of-speech ______
  7. definition ______
    ______
  8. no woman can (do what?) ______
  9. Otherwise (if you,Anne, don't say you are mistaken)
  10. tried
  11. part-of-speech ______
  12. definition ______
    ______
  13. may be sent (by ______)
  14. you are mistaken (about what?) ______

But this was something Anne Hutchinson could not do. She had always been a person who thought for herself, even when she was a small girl in England. She could not help thinking for herself now and speaking about what she thought. /
  1. this (saying she was mistaken about preaching and receiving signs from God)
  2. help
  3. part-of-speech ______
  4. definition ______
    ______


Sketch of Anne Hutchinson on Trial
And so Anne Hutchinson was brought to trial before a group of ministers. She stood before them bravely and tried to prove, with words from the Bible, that women, as well as men, might receive signs from God, and that women, as well as men, had the right to speak their thoughts. But the more she said the more the ministers turned against her. At the end of her trial, they sentenced her to be banished from the Massachusettscolony. /
  1. was brought (by ______)
  2. trial
  3. part-of-speech ______
  4. definition ______
    ______
  5. tried
  6. part-of-speech ______
  7. definition ______
    ______
  8. as well
  9. part-of-speech ______
  10. definition ______
    ______
  11. right
  12. part-of-speech ______
  13. definition ______
    ______
  14. turned against
  15. part-of-speechverb expression
  16. definition did not agree with
  1. they (______)
  1. sentenced
  2. part-of-speech ______
  3. definition ______
    ______
  4. banished
  5. part-of-speech ______
  6. definition ______
    ______
  7. colony
  8. part-of-speechn(C)
  9. definition a new territory [land area] that a people from a foreign country are settling

Anne Hutchinson and her family did not have an easy time after that. They stayed for a while in the Rhode Island colony. Then they traveled into the New York colony and settled there. And there, the cruelest thing of all happened. Anne Hutchinson had always been friendly with Indians. But one day, some hot-tempered braves, who did not know Anne Hutchinson, killed her and all her children but one. /
  1. after that (after what?) after ______
  2. there (where?) ______
  3. braves
  4. part-of-speech ______
  5. definition ______
    ______
  6. one (what?) ______

Still, her courage to say what she thought had not been in vain. Many people in Boston who had heard her talk remembered what she had said. Gradually, they began to think she had been right about many things -- and they made some changes in Puritan ways. /
  1. in vain
  2. part-of-speechadj.
  3. definition without result or success
  4. they (______)
  5. ways
  6. part-of-speech n(C)
  7. definition customs; behaviors

Some history books do mention her name.It is remembered in other places too. A river in New York, near which she lived, is called the HutchinsonRiver, after her. The highway that runs along it is called the Hutchinson River Parkway -- after Anne Hutchinson, a woman who did what she wasn't supposed to.
/
  1. mention
  2. part-of-speech ______
  3. definition ______
    ______
  4. It (______)
  5. after her ( because of her)
  6. it (______)
  7. did what she wasn't supposed to (did unacceptable things) What unacceptable things did Anne Hutchinson do?
______
______

Critical thought questions: (Write short answers, not full sentences, to these questions.)

  1. Why did Anne Hutchinson come to America and settle in Boston?
  2. What did Anne do that women were not supposed to do four hundred years ago?
  3. Why was Anne Hutchinson forced to leave the Boston colony?
  4. How was she killed?
  1. Why was she killed?
  2. What happened to the Puritan's customs and traditions because of Anne Hutchinson?

Resources:

National Women’s Hall of Fame –Anne Hutchinson

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11/5/2018-WL2