Of Plymouth Plantation Analysis

William Bradford wrote Of Plymouth Plantation to inform readers about his journey to the new world. Bradford joined the Puritans when he was a young boy, which he later on separated from. Bradford came to the new world in search of religious freedom. The Puritans

He wrote of the death the Pilgrims faced in that first harsh winter, but he also wrote of the new lives they made with the natives. William Bradford was a reliable man, as shown with his thirty years as governor, and with that reliability came his strict belief in the Calvinist Tenets.     In his September 6th entry, Bradford described his belief in the Calvinist Tenets quite clearly. During this passage, Bradford portrayed one of the sea-men as a “very profane young man” who cursed at the sick passengers. This man wished them all dead so he could loot their possessions.

In Of Plymouth Plantation, William Bradford writes of multiple acts of God’s divine providence acting on the Pilgrims during their journey to Virginia and the subsequent founding of Plymouth Plantation. Bradford’s portrayal of events he labels providence, such as the death of the lusty seaman, the finding of the corn seeds by the exploring party, and the repulse of the Native American attack, shows his belief that God acted through natural events and reveals aspects of Puritan theology and thinking.

We all tend to have a certain way of doing things that when it comes to everyone else, we start to believe it’s a divergent way of doing things. In other words it’s an act of ethnocentrism. A perfect and extreme example of ethnocentrism would be Hitler and the Nazis against the Jews. Hitler believed that the Jews were subordinate to his ethnicity and his believes so they didn’t deserve to live. This connects with Bradford and Smith’s in the way of first impression. They both saw the native americans in an unfriendly way and very different from them due to their choice of style and that’s exactly where ethnocentrism plays a role. Bradford and Smith had their own opinions on the native americans once they touched land and saw them.

Bradford’s interpretation of Merry Mount in his book titled, Of Plymouth Plantation, initiates with insulting accusations about Morton’s personality. Bradford titles Morton as the “Lord of Misrule” and declares that Morton was a “pettifogger” for throwing a feast for the Indians knowing that they had a shortage of food in order to get them to build a relationship with him (Bradford 155). Bradford disapproval of the occupants of Merry Mount’s “profane” and “dissolute life[style]” may place some doubt in the truthfulness of his writing, proposing that Bradford’s religious disparities with Morton has obscured his understanding of the maypole celebration (Bradford 155). Unsurprisingly, Morton’s maypole celebration signified the type of religious and societal viewpoints that the Puritans were trying to flee with their arrival to Plymouth. Morton’s presence threatened the Puritan’s idealistic concepts that Bradford valued for his neighborhood. In order to prevent that from occurring, Bradford’s intention for twisting the truth becomes comprehensible: to eradicate his enemy before he corrupts the Puritans with his “immoral lifestyle” (Bradford 156).

William Bradford said he believed, “Plymouth people were the chosen people to live out their last days in the earthly church” (Daly pg 560). Puritan settlers came to the new world seeking a better life and to get away from the rule of the Catholic Church they wanted to become a primitive Baptist church like in the Old Testament. The Puritans wanted to live their lives in Old Testament biblical way of life; when the settlers came to the, “New England they thought they had landed in God’s country” (Callicott). They thought they were the chosen ones the new

In John Winthrop’s essay “City Upon a Hill”, Winthrop expresses his distinct views on the aims of the Puritans coming to New England. During the early 17th century in Europe, some groups separated from the Church of England. These groups were known as the Pilgrims, who founded Plymouth Colony in 1620. This religion had a direct impact on religious ideas and culture in America. John Winthrop acquired a royal charter from King Charles I and created the Massachusetts Bay Colony. “City Upon a Hill” was written on the ship during the first mass Puritan migration to New England. This document provided the followers with a plan regarding their goals upon arriving in America. Winthrop firmly believes that the people who are willing to be fully

Ships the Puritans sailed on contained sails, which means if there was no wind, then the ship could not move. After a few days of no wind, “they put to sea again with a prosperous wind, which continued divers days together, which was some encouragement unto them;” (Bradford 74). Bradford transcribes how the wind gave the Puritans encouragement that their journey will continue on. Only through respecting God’s Covenant and believing in God will the wind continue. Bradford continues on about a storm the Puritans were caught in, but “they resolved to bear up again for the Cape, and thought themselves happy to get out of those dangers before night overtook them, as by God’s providence they did” (75). Bradford writes of God’s providence, or special care, meaning God took special care of those who believed in Him and follow the Covenant. In this passage, the colonists believed they were in grave danger, or death was near, but just as the colonists were starting to lose hope they saw the Cape. The Puritans believed God rewarded them for believing in Him. Throughout his writings, Bradford shows his belief that God is just but also of mercy, and is omnipresent. Betrayal to either God or the Covenant will receive just

When the Mayflower sailed over to the New World, on the boats were Puritans that were looking for a change in the way that their religion was practiced where the Chesapeake settlers came over for gold. Alongside the Puritans were the Separatists who

John Winthrop and the Puritans dared to make the dangerous journey across the Atlantic Ocean for their religious beliefs. The journey was expected to be difficult and the new land was expected to be unlike anything they had ever seen before. They were looking to become just the third group of people to successfully make the trek to the new world. While on the ship destined for what is now known as America, John Winthrop pulled all the Puritans together and delivered to them a speech bestowed upon him from God. Winthrop’s speech was later recorded and renamed “A Model of Christian Charity”. Winthrop uses this sermon to motivate the Puritans as they head for the new world. Winthrop persuades the Puritans to not worry about wealth, to love

Throughout William Bradford’s “Of Plymouth Plantation”, his attachment to his religion was very strong and very verbally shown throughout his work. Bradford was between the age of twelve and thirteen when he had first heard his first sermon by a minister named Richard Clyfton and he later joined with Clyfton in the year 1606. Bradford begins with “…some godly and zealous preachers, and God’s blessings on their labors…” God is already being praised in the first few sentences of this work to bless the labor of their works and throughout the land. The goal of this paper is to bring into light three different sections throughout the work, where Bradford uses his religion to prove a point and to show how his religious faith is freely expressed by leaving England.

A religious group wanted to break away from England to practice and relish in their religion their own way. They were call the puritans and set sailed out to America for their religious reasons. With what little they had they believed strongly in God that he will help them out through everything they need. Religion being taken seriously as if it was a law was noticeable in two texts, William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, where religion over the years help the colonists and so forth help shape America’s identity.

The Puritan religion was the basis for other works such as Anne Bradstreet. "And to my God my heart did cry, to strengthen me in my distress, and not leave me succorless." This is from a poem called, "Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10 1666." This particular piece entails the happenings of the Bradstreet homestead burning. During this difficult time Anne often speaks to God about letting go of her worldly possessions. Religion is one of the many things that helped new settlers through the beginning years of America. Another value that helped during this time was freedom.

In Hawthorne’s story The May-Pole of Merry Mount it is difficult to determine which colony is evil and which is good because both colonies’ situation can be view from different perspectives. In The May-Pole of Merry Mount, the Puritans are the pious and sterner colonists. They worship every day and work hard to create a

In Of Plymouth Plantation, William Bradford describes his experiences with God’s Providence during the voyage to Plymouth Rock. He uses his belief of Divine Providence to make God a part of the story, by giving him credit for all that happens, and making the Lord a part of everything in his life, because to Bradford, He is. This usage can be well explained in one of the first events of the excerpt. Bradford tells of a young seaman who condemned and cursed the poor, because of their illnesses. The seaman told the poor he hoped to cast them into the sea before they reached land. The man contracted a painful disease and was the first to be thrown overboard, which Bradford claimed was a punishment from God, “Thus his curses light on his own head, and it