Religion before the Great Awakening was strictly based on class and social status. Most people in the colonies sat in different seats, and they were divided into sections. It was not until the Great Awakening that these different social groups of people started to mix. Women, for example were treated harsh in the Puritan churches. They were considered as subordinates of men, and they did not have any roles in churches. Anne Hutchinson was the exception to this trend within the Puritan community because she had her own sessions of religious meetings. Women were banned to speak in public churches in 1636 mainly because of Hutchinson. She was exiled from Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637. Although Anne Hutchinson was exiled from Massachusetts Bay,
During the 1730s and 1740s the Great Awakening was a religious revival that lead by the Protestants. The main idea of the revivals was to preach a new idea of being reborn which meant that one must except Jesus Christ as their lord and savior. Once that occurred the people in return they will be forever saved and be forgiven for the sins they have committed in the past and the ones they will commit in the future. The text the Itinerants Chapter 2 from the Great Awakening PDF is a great text to read for information on the Great Awakening. The text shows how people like George Whitefield and others like him reshaped the landscape of the religious world.
Mary Dyer was born in England in 1611. She married William Dyer and went to Massachusetts in 1635. She was a good friend with Anne Hutchinson and shared the same views; they were Quakers. She was the mother of 8 children, two died shortly after birth. Mary had a stillborn daughter that was deformed and they buried in secret, because it was believer that either if a women preached or listen to a woman preacher their child would be deformed or that the deformed child was consequences of the parents sins.
Besides English settlers there were numerous other representatives of the European countries settling in the new land. And as the Puritans came to practice their own believes so did other nationalities, as explained in the study material. In my own interpretation America represents change and the believe system as well as the way religion was previously practiced was now changing. This change was greatly influenced by the intellectual movement called Enlightenment, which started in Europe and this influence had bearing on the Great Awakening. Besides Puritans now there were Catholics in Maryland, Quakers in Pennsylvania and the Episcopal Church in the southern states.
Mary Dyer had not agreed with the Puritan religion. She believed that God spoke to everyone through the urgings of his or her conscience; Puritans thought God only spoke to authorities of the church. Dyer also did not believe that the church should govern all aspects of life in the colony. At first, she kept an uneasy silence. But once a woman, Anne Hutchinson, began publically opposing the church, Dyer decided to step in as well.
About 124 years ago today, an important woman arrived at our colony, her name was Anne Hutchinson. She was one of our founders and a significant figure, not only known in this colony. Anne had a different interpretation of the Bible, this was against the Puritan rule in Massachusetts, and that’s why she was exiled to Rhode Island. While she lived in Massachusetts, Anne was recognized for holding church meetings in her own home. This was because of the way she interpreted the Bible.
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” & Puritan Beliefs The Great Awakening was a revival movement that occurred during the 1730’s that made people strive for religious seriousness. It was a time of spiritual and religious rediscovery, which was the cause for many sermons. For example, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” delivered by Jonathon Edwards. His sermons spoke with pure urgency, and with the purpose of driving in the thought of his audience not to underestimate the power and majesty of a holy God.
The Puritans in Massachusetts were very intolerant of other religious beliefs, regardless of the fact that they had been persecuted in England for what they believed. Puritans insisted that regular church attendance was mandatory in order to receive voting privileges. This meant that in order to have a say in anything you had to be a devout Puritan. They often argued about discrepancies within their own religion, such as whether or not sainthood was passed down from generation to generation. Puritans even went as far as to exile other Puritans the did not conform to the standard version of Puritanism.
The change she was trying to represent was women becoming more powerful in the society. The Puritans were afraid of her. They didn’t want her to get any more powerful. Besides Anne’s meetings being seen as unorthodox by some of the colony's ministers, differing religious opinions within the colony eventually became public debates. The resulting religious tension erupted into what has traditionally been called the Antinomian Controversy, but has more recently been labelled the Free Grace Controversy.
The heresy of Anne Hutchinson of Massachusetts expounded in 1634. Anne Hutchinson was forty-five and a mother of fifteen children. later following the Puritan leader John Cotton to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634. She brought attention to Cotton’s theology through her way with words. This attracted people to meetings at her home, on Mondays to talk about Cotton’s Sunday sermon.
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.
Protestant Reformation to shape the landscape which they lived in. Protestants and Catholics were constantly trying to reinvent to common social norms that were already in placed in order to please their denomination. In the 1630s the Puritans, led by John Winthrop, settled in Boston with hopes of reforming the Church of England and emplacing their religion and its social values with of those who are already there (primarily Native Americans). Around twelve years later some Puritans, such as Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, and Thomas Hooker, tried to reinvent the morals and theology of the Puritan Community. Years later in the 1730s and 1740s there is a revival called the Great Awakening which focused on reinventing the way people conducted their life and a call for personal choice.
The Influence of Puritanism In the eighteenth century, a passionate interest in religion and salvation developed in the American colonies. This period became known as the Great Awakening. The Great Awakening was an evangelical and revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, especially the American colonies leaving a permanent impact on American Protestantism. Many emotions were let out during this awakening and many ethos, logos, and pathos were used to persuade the audience of the American Colonists.
In New England, there was no such thing as religious tolerance. Everyone was required to be part of the Church of England whether they believed or not. This led to a disagreement among those who believed that those who were not “visible saints” should not be allowed to worship in the same place as those who were. These colonists were referred to as the Separatists because they eventually separated from the Church of England. Those who chose to stay with the church were called Puritans, although that term could technically be used to describe both.
Religious freedom and toleration in the English North American colonies provided little room for those who did not practice the exact same form of government and religion. Although a similarity to America today is that the Puritan "court" provided a ruling to determine the punishment of an individual, however, the similarities stop there. When people came outright to declare their individual practices, such as Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson, they were denounced and, in certain cases, sent into
New England’s founders were strict Puritans who did not have much tolerance for any religion except their own. Over time, as more and more immigrants came with increasingly diverse beliefs, the once stable foundation began to crack. Conflicts broke out and certain religious groups were banished which led to the development of other nearby colonies, for example Rhode Island and Connecticut. In the Chesapeake region, it was easier and there was not as much controversy over religion. The area started out as a refuge for Catholics, but over time many Protestants immigrated there and soon became the majority.