A Matter of Conscience

A Matter of Conscience recounts Anne Marbury Hutchinson’s struggle with the Puritan Church over its rigid theocratic control of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, her trial for heresy and sedition, and her banishment from the colony. Anne Hutchinson defends her religious faith against the leaders of the Puritan community in colonial Boston. Put on trial for following her conscious, she faces imprisonment and possible banishment in a contest of wills. Information about the events in this story comes mainly from the transcripts of Anne Hutchinson’s trial and from John Winthrop’s journals and letters. All words shown in quotation marks were actually spoken by the people in the story. Speeches and thoughts not in quotation marks. are paraphrases based on the beliefs, values, thoughts, attitudes, and opinions held by those involved. Joan Kane Nichols is a published author of several young adult and children’s books. Some of her published credits include: A Matter of Conscience: The Trial of Anne Hutchinson (Stories of America), Mary Shelley: Frankenstein’s Creator (Barnard Biography Series) and The Civil War Sisterhood (Scott Foresman Social Studies). Dan Krovatin is a published illustrator of several young adult and children’s books. Some of his published credits include: A Matter of Conscience: The Trial of Anne Hutchinson (Stories of America), Frenchtown Summer (Paperback) and Alien Alert (Ghostwriter). Alex Haley, as General Editor, wrote the introduction.