The Trial of Anne Hutchinson

Synopsis

By recreating one of the most tumultuous and significant episodes in early American history,The Trial of Anne Hutchinson: Liberty, Law, and Intolerance in Puritan New Englandillustrates the struggle between the followers and allies of John Winthrop, Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, and those of Anne Hutchinson, a strong-willed and brilliant religious dissenter.

Part of the “Reacting to the Past” series, this text consists of elaborate games in which students are assigned roles, informed by classic texts, set in particular moments of intellectual and social ferment.   The game unfolds amidst a controversy that pushed Massachusetts to the brink of collapse and spurred a larger historical process that led to religious freedom and the modern concept of separation of church and state.