#17: Anne Hutchinson (1591-1643)
Anne Hutchinson was born in England and later settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, where she became known for hosting religious discussions in her home during the 1630s. She challenged the authority of Puritan ministers by questioning their interpretations of faith and emphasizing personal revelation, which quickly put her at odds with colonial leadership. In 1637, she was tried for her beliefs and banished from the colony. She later settled in what is now Rhode Island and then New York, continuing to live on the edge of the expanding colonies. Her life ended in 1643 during a violent conflict in the region, but her case remains a key early example of resistance to religious authority in colonial America.
