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.

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