Essay Compare And Contrast William Bradford And John Smith

Despite the fact Smith and Bradford both came to the New World, they were considered to be remarkably different from each other. One of the main differences between Smith and Bradford was their style of writing. Smith chose to write to persuade people to come to the New World and start a new life. Smith said, "What pleasure can be more than in planting vines, fruits, or herbs, in contriving their own grounds to the pleasure of their own minds, their fields, gardens, orchards, buildings, ships, and other works…” His goal was to try to make the New World sound pleasant to live there as

The author John Smith, a pilgrim who arrived to the Americas, wrote a description of the new land in his book “ A Description of New England ”. In this book Smith shows a wonderful world of vast food and pleasure. Also, William Bradford another pilgrim who arrived to Plymouth on the coast of Massachusetts, wrote a book called “ Of Plymouth Plantation ” in which he describes what really happened, how the pilgrims actually lived. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast both authors and their books. John Smith wrote about the wonderful place the New World was, on the other hand, William Bradford wrote about the realities and difficulties of the New World.

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.

In William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation he articulates that living in young America was a tough life that included dangerous living, starvation and disease. Bradford sailed from Holland with the Pilgrims and when their first governor died in 1621 Bradford was elected. Bradford’s opinion was well respected in the community and he was reelected to his position thirty times. This position gave him the ability to have many of his works published and read by many. An example of him describing the new world as dangerous is when he painted the picture of a wicked forest across “the whole country” . He went on to describe this forest as having a “wild and savage hue”. Another problem addressed in William Bradford’s piece is starvation. He described that once winter arrived many people began to die and by February “half [the] company died”. Finally Bradford described the new world as a haven for disease. As the starvation began to set in in the early winter so did the

To many Europeans in the early 17th century the Americas seemed as a new land of opportunity. John Smith and William Bradford were two of the first men who left England seeking adventure and freedom in the New World. Both groups had difficulties while trying to form their colonies and Smith and Bradford were both elected to lead. While they were both great leaders they had very different lives before their journey from England. While starting their new colonies they also took different approaches to making the land habitable. One of the most notable differences between John Smith and William Bradford was their writing style. John Smith and William Bradford were very different people in

Smith was badly burned in 1606 from a gunpowder explosion and forced to return back to England. In 1614 he returned with an expedition to map the New England coastline. He would never return to Virginia again after this. He would from then on only promote colonizing the New England area. His efforts to promote colonizing were blocked by weather, pirates and lack of funding. He then resorted to writing about colonization. In his writing he elaborated about how wonderful it was in the new world. He would say that the fish practically jump into your boat when you go fishing and things such as that. He made the new world seem better than it really was so people would want to travel here and settle in it. His plan worked because year after year more and more people flocked to the New England hoping to colonize and not have to worry about running out

While many cannot picture Smith in any context other than with Pocahontas, he had a very active life before he even met her. As stated by Woolf, prior to even meeting Pocahontas Smith had been “in an army fighting the Ottoman Turks in central Europe, during which he went through several escapes, was seriously wounded, taken into slavery, after which he murdered his slave-master and escaped, along with being shipwrecked twice.”1 All of these exploits happened before Smith ended up in Virginia at the Jamestown colony, and met Pocahontas, the narrative of which most Americans are intimately familiar with or so they think.

What are the differences in Smith 's story? In Smith 's story he wrote briefly about the journey to Jamestown. He wrote about how they only had half-pint of wheat and as much barley boils with water for a man a day. He only has to spend twenty-six weeks on the ship. He then wrote in great detail about his life on land. He wrote about when they got there they had to fend for themselves because the lost all of there help. The Savages (Indians) brought them the food that no one wanted. Then the Indians kidnapped John Smith. They kept him for six or seven weeks. Before the captured him they stalked him (with

John Smith and William Bradford’s writing had a lot of similarities as well as differences. They both are based on a settlement in the New World. They both speak about how they were trying to survive in this foreign land. In The General History of Virginia, Smith says “ such extreme weakness and sickness oppressed us” (3). This gives us a clear point of view on the amount of diseases

John Smith and William Bradford were two of the first men to arrive in the Americas in the 17th century and both took the role as leader of one of the early colonies, Plymouth and Jamestown. Smith and Bradford both wrote narratives on each of their individual experiences of traveling to America, however; each had a strikingly different perspective. Although both men shared the same purpose of attracting others to their colonies, each used a different approach based upon their personal beliefs.

In the stories of John Smith and William Bradford with their people they encountered many things when they arrived at the New World. The people with Willam Bradford were mostly Puritans with hopes to find religious freedom . The others with John Smith came to the world for profits which is very different motives from of those with Bradford. Along with their motives and desires the immigrants didn’t know what to expect the strange land.

The first thing Smith describe in his writing was the view and landscape of the land. He wrote that the “mildness of the air, the fertility of the soul , and the situation of the rivers are so propitious to the nature and use of man as no place is more convenient for pleasure, profit and man sustenance.” Any living creature could live there because the latitude and climate were perfect. There were safe harbors for boats of all kind located around all shores. And there were all kinds of natural resources that were available. The country had everything and would be a good place to settle down in.

John Smith and William Bradford writings were intended for different reasons, but ended up having a few things in common. They both were leaders who established colonies. Smith and Bradford both tried to persuade people to join them in the New World. So, through their writing they hoped

William Bradford wrote, ‘Of Plymouth Plantation’ written sometime between the years 1630-1651 serves as an historical account of the Pilgrims’ voyage and colonization in America. Bradford was born in England but became a separatist, and in 1620, sailed with his wife for America aboard the Mayflower in search of religious freedom. Bradford was a prominent member of the colony, even becoming governor for many years. His written account is still largely considered one the most important historical documents of the Colonization period. However, although viewed as an established historical piece, Bradford exhibits some bias in his historical accounts. His main purpose in writing the book was to convey his world-view/ideology of the Puritan lifestyle and to demonstrate his belief that the establishment of the colony was directly carried out according to God’s divine will. His religious beliefs were demonstrated in the language of the text through the use of a plain-style, third person narrative writing along with his use of biblical illustrations.

Throughout history, there have been great leaders, some for the good of humanity, and some for the not-so good of humanity. The one element all leaders have in common is in some way, have changed the course of history. The one great leader I have found to be interesting and envision of a great leader is William Bradford, an original passenger on the Mayflower, and the first ever governor elected on what is to become, American Soil.