Which woman, banished from Massachusetts for challenging religious authorities, helped advance religious liberty?

• A. Abigail Adams
• B. John Adams
• C. James Armistead
• D. Anne Hutchinson

Answer: (D)

Dissent and religious liberty in colonial America. Anne Hutchinson challenged the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s religious authorities in the 1630s by arguing that people could interpret Scripture and receive guidance from the Holy Spirit without mediation by clergy. This direct challenge to the established church-state arrangement threatened the colony’s order, so she was banished in 1637. She and her followers moved to Rhode Island, where religious tolerance and freedom of conscience began to take stronger root—an early example of how dissent could advance broader liberty in the colonies. Her legacy helped shape later American ideas about religious liberty and the separation of church and state, even as others on the list were known for different roles or periods.