Brief Overview of American Literature From Plymouth to the 1800s

The two selections that give me the most complete picture of this historical period are Olaudah Equiano and William Bradford's. Olaudah shares his atrocities suffered by African slaves at the hands of the slave traders and the slave owners. William Bradford's narrative is defined as a source of strength and unity by chronicling faith as the reason for Plymouth Plantation and uniting the members of the colony as the cultural characteristics of self-sacrifice.

The Jamestown and Plymouth settlements were both settled in the early 1600's. Plymouth and Jamestown were located along the shoreline in Massachusetts and Virginia, respectively. Although both had different forms of government, they both had strong leadership. Jamestown was controlled by the London Company, who wanted to profit from the venture, while the Puritans who settled at Plymouth were self-governed with an early form of democracy and settled in the New World to gain religious freedom. John Smith took charge in efforts to organize Jamestown, and at Plymouth William Bradford helped things run smoothly.

“The General History of Virginia” and “Of Plymouth Plantation” are similar and different in many ways. They are the first settlers of America and came for different reasons, different goals, and different ways of life. Although they were different they both risked their lives for a new life in return. John Smith and William Bradford were two different people. John Smith was an Adventurer and William Bradford was a Puritan. Their differences and similarities personified through two works of writing.

Leaders of Plymouth and Jamestown are both compare because they both came from England, Native Americans aided the newly incorporated groups by supplying them for food, and both empires resulted in the starvation and death. However, in Jamestown, John Smith set a goal to make money and get rich, developed the idea of everyone for themselves, men were the dominant gender, and Smith abandoned the colony and never decided to return. As for Plymouth, William Bradford 's’ goal was to have religious freedom, the group helped one another, families were unity of the empire, and Bradford was more caring and considerate of his people and remained this way for the rest of his life.

The role of religion played a major role in early American literature. Many different authors form a variety of time period's incorporate religious ideas and philosophies into their writings. A few authors from different time periods that did this were Johnathan Edwards, Anne Bradstreet, and Henry David Thoreau.

During 1608s and 1763s, North American Jamestown and Massachusetts Bay colonists developed knowledge in, and the anticipation of, self-government in the political, economic, social and religious aspects of their lives.

Jamestown colonists signed the Treaty of Chickahominy in 1614, which guaranteed that Native Americans would pay an annual tribute of corn to Jamestown (“Jamestown and the Indians: The First Decade.”). Jamestown depended on the tribute because much of their agriculture focused on the cash crop, tobacco (“Jamestown and the Indians: The First Decade.”). In 1616, Openchancanough ordered the natives to withhold their annual payment (“Jamestown and the Indians: The First Decade.”). When Natives claimed the tribute had already been payed, the English opened fire killing between 20 and 40 Natives (“Indian Wars List and Timeline.”). Jamestown’s demands again ended in a blood bath. In contrast, John Carver of Plymouth and Massasoit signed a peace treaty which guaranteed a true allegiance (“The Colonies | Plymouth.”). The treaty assured mutual protection from harm, respect for property rights, and assistance in time of war (“The Colonies | Plymouth.”). It remained in affect from April 1, 1621 until the King Phillip War in 1675 (“Indian Wars List and Timeline”). While both settlements sought treaties, Jamestown used aggression to advance themselves and Plymouth used negotiation develop a peaceful

A few years before the tragedy, the two sons of Massasoit, a Wampanoag chief, were given English names. Metacomet's brother Wamsutta had his name changed to Alexander, and Metacomet's was changed to Philip which soon was recognized as King Philip to the English people. When their father passed away, they both shared the power. Unfortunately, Alexander died suddenly after being arrested by the English due to their suspicions about the chief having plans for a war against the colonists. As a result, King Philip

This colony was quite different from Virginia. In Plymouth, everyone was each others backbone, meaning everyone helped each other out. Whether it was crops or building etc. Everybody was entitled to religious freedom, their rights. One difference though is that Bradford was more caring of his people and he remained there the rest of his life.

In comparison Virginia and Plymouth had a reason for colonizing in the Americas. It natural that any foreigner would want more money and especially in a placed where no one has touched it. They both had a purpose of being here in the Americas, the colonist had good soil for the plantations and for growing new different groups in the field, and the pilgrims had a very rocky soil and it limited their farming skills, so the colonists had an advantage. The pilgrims were more involved in conflicts with the native Americans that the colonists, they were both were associated with them but numerous times the pilgrims had conflicts with them.The colonists from Virginia and Plymouth both came for the British monarchy of England. Complemnetary to this the colonies had some starvation rapidly going on in their civilizations and also a numerous titanic load of people died. When they arrived in the Americas the native Americans helped them by supplying food because they were not used to the different soils and plantations that they had back in England. The people of Virginia wanted to be wealthy and the puritans from Plymouth came because of religious freedom and because they had religious persecution in their native homelands. Bradford stays as governor in the colonies until the rest of his life and John Smith does not stay, he leaves after an accidental incident happened and he leaves the Americas and goes back to

William Bradford and John Smith were both early American writers; however, their writing styles were very different. They began writing around the same time with Smith starting in 1608 and Bradford starting in 1630. Smith wrote three books: A Description of New England, The General History, and A True Relation. However, Bradford wrote only one book called Of Plymouth Plantation. Bradford’s writing style is easy to read but still well written. Smith’s writing, on the other hand, is difficult to follow. In Smith’s The General History, he expresses that he has a low regard for the Native Americans in the way he frequently refers to them as savages. On the other hand, Bradford demonstrates a high regard for them when he wrote about them helping the Plymouth settlement. Just as their writing styles are different, so are their motives for writing. Bradford wrote because he did not want the Plymouth Plantation settlement to be forgotten, whereas Smith wrote for money and to promote exploration of the New World. The theme of Smith’s writing was very secular, even

With the establishment of the first successful English colony of Jamestown by the Virginia Company in the New World and the creation of the other thirteen original colonies during the seventeenth-century, the colonists of America were originally immigrants from Europe who sought to escape hardships whether it be religious persecution or material gain. This created regional differences between the New England colonies of the north and the Chesapeake colonies of the south. The diverse population of these colonies continued to grow and prosper while under the rule of Britain. While the colonists were European in origin, they developed a uniquely American identity that was different from the mother country due to the abundance of land and the absence of Parliamentary authority. Although the colonists failed to

After the passing of King James I, King Charles II became king. Since the kings changed the colonists were able to create The Virginia House of Burgess which was the first legislative branch of government in America and it gave the colonists the opportunity to control their government ( “Government Structure in Jamestown” n.d.) William Berkeley becomes govern in 1660, elected by the Virgina Assembly. While under Berkeley he created a slavery law. The colonists also created taxes to help pay for governmental expenses and projects. Charles II gave proprietary rights of the land he had and Virginia was one of them and it later on created tension in Jamestown and it followed while under Berkeley control. The Native Americans were attacking the white man and Berkeley was criticized for it. Nathaniel Bacon he apart of the Virginia Council he disobeyed Berkeley and made a small army later defeating the Native American. Berkeley marked Bacon as a traitor. Bacon came back to Jamestown with an army and burned it to the ground. The English sent a royal commission to investigate the matter. With Berkeley and Bacon’s Rebellion it shows us political tension between the govor and an advisory from the Virginia Council ( “Government Structure in Jamestown” n.d.) Plymouth was not seen as a royal colony so it couldn’t really have a government, but they did. Some man on the Mayflower on November 11th established a

The colonization of New England started with a king who chose his enemies unwisely. Succeeder of Elizabeth I in 1603, James I vowed to purge all radical Protestant reformers, especially the Puritans whom were made up of Presbyterians and Congregationalists. So in an attempt to flee from persecution, they set off for a new land to build their utopia. In November 1620 some 88 “Pilgrims” set anchor at a place they called Plymouth (on today’s coast of southeastern Massachusetts). They were shaken by shipboard mutiny, sick with scurvy, and weak from mal nutrition. Few foreseen founding the first permanent European settlement in New England. Many did not live long enough to enjoy the distinction. They arrived too late to plant crops due to weather and only brought enough food to last a month. By the spring of 1621, half of the Pilgrims laid dead. Plymouth might also ended up a tragedy like their Jamestown counterparts except they received better treatment from the native Indians. The Wampanoag’s controlled the land around Plymouth, and was eager to obtain trade goods and assistance against their native enemies. Their chief agreed to help the starving colonists. In the beginning they communicated through a Wampanoag named Squanto. Squanto had been captured by English sailors and taken to England where he learned English. The Pilgrims openly accepted the help and hospitality from the natives, and after their first successful

Jamestown, the birthplace of America was the first permanent english settlement in North America. In April 1606, King James I established Jamestown and on May 13, 1607, colonists began to arrive at Jamestown. When establishing Jamestown as a colony, the Virginia Company was in search of economic opportunities. The citizens wanted to escape poverty and prosecution. They wanted to be able to believe in what they wanted. The first month in Jamestown was a struggle for all passengers. The moment the passengers came ashore, they immediately began on settlement. Serious problems soon emerged when about 15,000-25,000 Indians were already living in the Chesapeake Bay when the colony was founded. The Indians were part of the Powhatan Confederacy which was ruled by Powhatan, a powerful leader. At this time, the English settlers were looking for gold that no one was farming. In this situation, Captain John Smith became the colony’s leader and established a “no work, no food” policy. Smith had been instrumental in trading with the Powhatan Indians for food but their relationship was tense in all aspects. After he was injured by a burning gunpowder in 1608 and left for England, the “starving time” began. This was a period of warfare between the colonists and Indians and the depth of many English men