William Bradford Secondary Blog Post

While reading William Bradford’s journals of his journey and hardships on the Mayflower, I really got a sense of just how difficult this colonial time was. Established by English colonists, or otherwise know as “pilgrims” these people traveled here in order to gain religious freedom and to separate from the Church of England. Bradford’s journal covers from Holland 1608 to the Mayflower in 1620 and ends with the names of Mayflower passengers 1650 (William Bradford; Plymouth Colony Governor). This journal is a incredibly important because it not only documents events, but also how the colonists reacted to them. Although Bradford never attempted to publish his work, you can tell he intended for it to be later read to further the education of future generations.

On the other hand, John Smith and Jamestown is often compared to Bradford and the Plymouth Plantation. While colonists from Plymouth mostly traveled for religious freedom, Jamestown colonists traveled for better trade in hopes to get rich. Religious beliefs between the two also differed. Jamestown was a colony that practiced the Church of England’s beliefs, while Plymouth was a Puritan colony (Jamestown and Plymouth: Compare and Contrast). In addition, disease struck both colonies hard and killed off many of their men leaving the colonies both fragile. Although these colonies have their differences, they both play a huge role in our present day way of life, and their experiences are still relevant as well as relatable. 

Works Cited:

"Jamestown and Plymouth: Compare and Contrast." National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2017.

"William Bradford (Plymouth Colony Governor)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2017.

Jonathan Edwards: "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"

Primary Blog 1

Jonathan Edwards was born in 1703 in Connecticut. He grew up being the grandchild of a very prominent religious figurehead, Reverend Solomon Stoddard of Northampton, Massachusetts. Edwards, being the only male in eleven children, was groomed to be the reverend’s “heir” (397). He wrote from an early age and was admitted to Yale when he was thirteen. Edwards continued writing, mainly religious works, throughout his life. These combined factors are all very influential in his writing. A piece of his work that I read that was greatly influenced by his personal beliefs, his education, and even some political factors of the time would be his sermon called “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” It was written in 1741, and published later in that century. The sermon takes place in the small town of Enfield, Connecticut. It draws from his personal relationship with God, and his own interpretation of the Bible. The sermon also expresses a sense of individual responsibility for one’s connection with God, and not part of a group of people. This was a little different than previous views such as it is the group, as a whole, that controls the beliefs. The reaction from his audience also shows his exceptional writing skills; in a footnote, the editors of Norton Anthology explain that “Edwards read his sermon in a level voice with his sermon book in his left hand, and in spite of his calm ‘there was such a breathing of distress, and weeping, that the preacher was obliged to speak to the people and desire silence’…” (430).

In Edwards’ sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” The main idea of this sermon is that people must have their own belief in God like a , or they will fall into the damnation of hell, and that there is nothing stopping God from cutting the string holding every sinner over the fiery pit of doom. Sinner meaning anyone who does not truly believe in Christ. A quote that I found supports this idea is “there is hell’s wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of; there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up” (434). As long as one has the “pleasure” and holds the belief of God in its true form, then you can be saved from going to hell at any moment, whereas “sinners” do not know when they are to slip and fall into hell. According to Edwards, it seems that the only true belief in God is through the Puritan religion. He says that even though you may have “reformed your life in many things, and may have religious affections, and may keep up a [form] of religion in your families and closets…” (436). I interpreted this as saying that even though one practices a “form” of Christianity, one is still are not saved from hell because it is not the Puritan “form” of Christianity.

The purpose of this sermon was to make the congregation analyze their own lives and find that man is inherently evil, and even though we are all sinners, according to Edwards, there is still a way to keep oneself from falling into the pit of doom. It is to find an emotional connection with God and to really believe in the religion (440). In this persuasion, his language is full of metaphors. For example, Edwards portrays God’s wrath and patience as a taut bow and arrow, ready to fly at any moment (435). This brings back the point that a for a sinner they will never know when the arrow of God’s wrath will fly, striking them down for their evils. Edwards implies many times that people are wicked and should learn to reform their ways, even if their “sin” may just be not paying attention at church on Sundays. Edwards chose metaphors that the audience could easily visualize, such as that God is holding his people over a fiery pit, with devils waiting like hungry lions (432). Or that His wrath will come crashing down on the sinners like a tidal wave pouring through a floodgate (435). This is meant to cause the audience to fear for themselves and to take a step back and look at their own sins and relationship with God. This reading of Edwards sermon fits into the “first awakening” of the American colonial people.  He expresses the importance of an individual relationship with one’s religion. This sets the people on a track to the revolution, which stems from individuality.

Works Cited

Edwards, Jonathan. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Norton Anthology of American Literature, edited by Nina Baym and Robert S. Levine, W.W. Norton & Co., 2012, pp. 430-441. 

Mrs. Mary Rowlandson

On February 20th 1676 a woman by the name of Mary Rowlandson was captured in a war know as King Phillips War. Phillip's Narragansett, Wampanoag, and Nashaway Indians burned 1200 houses and the war killed almost 600 Englishmen and over 3, ooo Indians. Rowlandson was one of many victims that were captured in Lancaster. For eleven weeks she was held hostage here until she was then ransomed and released. Her experiences here inspired her to write "A Narrative of the captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson.

.    

Rowlandson starts off her narrative in first person, where she describes being locked behind the gates of hell with so called "black creatures" or "Ravenous Beasts" on page 259. By excluding them from humens and claiming them to be ravenous, she shows signs of fear and isolation. Rowlandson makes makes the Indians out to be awful, which isn't surprising since they have treated her awfully. For example, Rowlandson explains how she would go days without food, she never knew when her next meal would be. Throughout of the torture, Rowlandson nears the point of suicide, but realizes just how lucky she is to be alive and how much she has taken for granted. Taken her own life would be selfish.

 

She also gives her unconditional faith to God as she practices the Puritan theory that he will always be there. For example, on page 261 she says that, "the Lord wounded me with one hand and healed with the other." This shows she believes that God is here to get her through this capture and that she should stay true to that. Rowlandson also believes that this was punishment for not living out her Puritan life to the fullest and that everyone needed to do so in order to avoid another Indian war like King Phillips.

Mrs. Mary Rowlandson is not the only one with this Puritan life style. For example, a poet by the name of Anne Bradstreet also writes about these Puritan beliefs. In "Upon the Burning of Our House July, 1666" she writes a poem about how she will turn to God in her times of need instead of acting in anger. Here she agrees with Rowlandson and Puritans and believe that God is always there to lean on. This relating to Rowlandson when she gives her undeniable faith to God and trusts that she will make it through her awful experiences in captivity, because God is with her. 

Works Cited

Baym, Nina, and Robert S. Levine. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print. "

"Verses upon the Burning of Our House." Wikisource, the Free Online Library. Wikipedia, 2012. Web. 28 Jan. 2017.

Secondary Blog

While reading John Winthrop’s A Model of Christian Charity I learned Winthrop created a plan for how the new Puritan colony should function. He described how the people needed to come together as one colony and the colony needs to “seek out a place of cohabitation and consortship under a form of government both civil and ecclesiastical” (175). The way the colony will do this is bear each other burdens and look out for each other.  The people who are part of the colony will have a covenant with God. They will form one government that combines civil and religious aspects. The goal of the colony is to enhance their lives and to do good things for each other and God. The colony will do this by working together, under God. There will be harsh punishment for breaking of laws because if you break a religious law it will be the same as breaking a civil law. Winthrop also mentions that people are watching what they are doing and how they are doing it, and if they fail God then all of the world will know.

While Winthrop’s vision for the colony consisted of a government that embraced both a civil and religious government, Roger Williams disagreed. Williams believed that the government should be separated into a civil government and an individual religious conscience. He believed that individuals had the freedom to worship whatever and whomever they wanted without anyone telling them what to believe. He thought that the civil government should keep order and follow laws and not deal with religion. Williams also believed that the King of England did not have any right in taking the land from the natives and giving that land away.

It was interesting to compare these two readings because they had opposing views on how a colony’s government should be run. It helped me to see both sides and to understand why they believed what they did. With the people settling in a new country to have religious freedom, you would think that they would have been more tolerant and accepting of differing religious ideas.

    Works Cited

Baym, Nina, and Robert S. Levine. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print.

William Bradford: Of Plymouth Plantation

William Bradford wrote journals about his and his fellow shipmates’ journey on the Mayflower and the colonization of the Plymouth Plantation. His journals were influenced by personal and religious factors. In his journal, he used facts to document the journey and gave insight into the experiences that the colonists went through. William Bradford was born in Austerfield Yorkshire. At around age twelve or thirteen, Bradford heard his first sermon of the “Separatists” and it changed all his beliefs.  Separatists wanted to separate from the Church of England to practice their own beliefs and set up their own churches. Separatists met at the house of William Brewster in Scrooby, Nottinghamshire but had to move to the Netherlands when the followers were tired of hiding their faith and were being charged with treason. They petitioned for a land grant in North America, where they eventually traveled to and settled in Plymouth Massachusetts. Bradford wrote journals of his personal journey on the Mayflower, arriving on a new uncharted land, along with the many difficulties he faced and how God and his faith helped him throughout his journey.

The journals written by William Bradford talk about the voyage, the hardships, and the experiences the colonists had to face in order to gain religious freedom from all the difficulties they had previously endured. Upon arriving on this new opportunity for liberty and religious freedom, a covenant was signed to protect the rights of citizens. The Pilgrims traveled the immense ocean with numerous plans, only to land at a place full of strangers, with no one willing to help, no access to food, no shelter and in the bitter cold surrounded by nothing but woods and deep water. They had to find a place where they could create a settlement while running from the Indians they encountered on this new land. They found old Indian preserves which they then used for themselves, thanking God for blessing them with it. Throughout their journey they kept thanking God for all he blessed them with. After a hard winter, only around fifty people survived and many of them were still ill. Even the non-believers and crew of the ship were taken care of by those who weren’t sick. Eventually, with good health restored, summer harvests and Gods’ will, the people of Plymouth reaped the benefits of their hard work. Bradford wrote in a journalistic style because he was documenting these experiences as they happened not intending for it to be published while he was alive but for it to maybe eventually published for other people to read. The writing of these journals is very useful in providing information about the Pilgrims and the Plymouth Plantation and is still studied today.

Bradford’s journals of Plymouth Plantation show the determination of the people to discover new land and to survive and to provide for themselves. Bradford’s journals of Plymouth Plantation relate and correspond to John Smith’s writings. John Smith wrote about his travels and discoveries around the New World, his experiences he encountered and how he survived in this new land. Both Bradford and Smith were important in documenting these new lands for not only people of their time but for later generations to read as well. They both experienced many complications along their journey to discovery, such as hunger, having to go out and scout out new sites for dwellings and meeting the natives. Both of these men were involved in a major leadership role of their settlements. From these writings we can conclude that both of these men were very important and influential in the establishment of their colonies. While Bradford explained his personal experiences in a journalistic form without really an intent of writing to an audience, Smith wrote highly of himself in third person with the idea that people would read his writings.

Work Cited

Baym, Nina, and Robert S. Levine. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print.

The Journal Is The History Of The First 30 Years Of Plymouth Colony, Handwritten By William, Bradford. It Is Known As "of Plymouth Plantation" From The Heading On The First Page. The Bradford, Journal Is The Single Most Complete Authority For The Story Of The Pilgrims And The Early Years Of The, and Colony They Founded. OF PLYMOUTH PLANTATION: THE JOURNAL OF WILLIAM BRADFORD (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

"William Bradford Essay." Enotes.com. Enotes.com, n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2017.