In 1637, Anne Hutchinson was tried before the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. During the examination he confessed to having experienced an “immediate revelation” from God. He described hearing “the voice of his spirit in my soul.” After arguing with the authorities, John Winthrop concluded that "...this is the root of all evil." She was found guilty and banished from the colony. In 1775, Freeborn Garrettson had a similar mystical experience. “That night I went to bed as usual, and slept until dawn: as soon as I awoke, I was alarmed by a terrible voice: 'Wake up, sinner, for you are not ready to die'. This remained strongly imprinted in my mind, as if it had been a human voice as loud as thunder." Shortly thereafter he had a conversation with God which, despite the devil's verbal interruptions, led to his conversion. Like Hutchinson, Garrettson experienced an immediate revelation from God. Unlike Hutchinson, Garrettson was not banished for that experience. In fact, he chose to publish it and became a key figure in the rise of Methodism in the United States. In the years between Hutchinson's trial and Garettson's conversion, American religion had changed. Democracy changed that. Although the impact of religion on democracy has been well documented, it is difficult to trace the impact of democracy on religion. However, historians such as Nathan Hatch argue that democracy had a significant influence on the development of American religion. Hatch identifies three signs of democratic spirit found in early American religious movements: redefined leadership, acceptance of spiritual experience, and high ambitions. All three are exemplary... middle of paper... Antinomianism in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1636-1638. Boston: John Wilson and son, 1894.Bangs, Nathan. . vol. The Life of Rev. Freeborn Garrettson: Compiled from His Printed and Manuscript Diaries and Other Authentic Documents. New YorkT: J Cullord, 1829.Fea, John. Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?: A Historical Introduction. 1st ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011.Griffith, R. Marie. American Religions: A Documentary History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.Hatch, Nathan O. The Democratization of American Christianity. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989. Lyerly, Cynthia Lynn. Methodism and the Southern Mind, 1770-1810. Religion in America Series. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Noll, Mark A. Old Religion in a New World: The Story of North American Christianity. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002.