William Bradford 's Of Plymouth Plantation And Thomas Morton 's New English Canaan

The New England and Chesapeake colonists settled in the new world for different reasons like religious freedoms in the North and quick profits in the South.

This is shown by document D which shows a trading incident between the Native Americans and the settlers. Francis West and thirty six men sailed up the Bay to try to trade for corn. Instead, the settlers received grain after “some harshe and crewell dealinge by the cut of towe of the salvages heads and other extrymetyes.” This lost all trust between the two groups, if there was some before. This also shows the tension between the two groups and the unwillingness to benefit from each other, essentially and mostly on the colonist’s part.

Indian Relations was one factor that caused the death of so many colonists in the early Jamestown. In early 15th century, Francis West and his group cruised up the Chesapeake harbor to attempt the exchange for grains with the Indians. They were capable to fill his trifling vessel with corns. This achievement would aid, but then it was not sufficient to last the settlers the wintertime. They finally took the corns back to England. The “Affiliation” of the Natives and settlers was apprehensive, at times unfriendly. The two philosophies were so diverse. The semantic, civilizations, and way of life, were so conflicting that none of them distinguished what to anticipate of the other. Mostly, English colonists saw the Inhabitants as uninformed heathens,

Imagine sailing across the Atlantic Ocean to a new world, a place that a person has only ever heard about and all of it’s great opportunities. Now imagine sailing the same ocean, only to be unsure if your life will be worsened or not. Bradford’s detailed narrative of “Of Plymouth Plantation” and Olaudah Equiano’s autobiography of his experiences as a slave in “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano” are both oddly similar, but extremely different. In this essay, I will be viewing the similarities and differences between these two narratives with the topics of their coming to America story and their writing style and purpose.

“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.

Throughout the course of history there have been numerous accounts regarding Native American and European interaction. From first contact to Indian removal, the interaction was somewhat of a roller coaster ride, leading from times of peace to mini wars and rebellions staged by the Native American tribes. The first part of this essay will briefly discuss the pre-Columbian Indian civilizations in North America and provide simple awareness of their cultures, while the second part of this essay will explore all major Native American contact leading up to, and through, the American Revolution while emphasizing the impact of Spanish, French, and English explorers and colonies on Native American culture and vice versa. The third, and final, part of this essay will explore Native American interaction after the American Revolution with emphasis on westward expansion and the Jacksonian Era leading into Indian removal. Furthermore, this essay will attempt to provide insight into aspects of Native American/European interaction that are often ignored such as: gender relations between European men and Native American women, slavery and captivity of native peoples, trade between Native Americans and European colonists, and the effects of religion on Native American tribes.

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

When the first colonists landed in the territories of the new world, they encountered a people and a culture that no European before them had ever seen. As the first of the settlers attempted to survive in a truly foreign part of the world, their written accounts would soon become popular with those curious of this “new” world, and those who already lived and survived in this seemingly inhospitable environment, Native American Indian. Through these personal accounts, the Native Indian soon became cemented in the American narrative, playing an important role in much of the literature of the era. As one would expect though, the representation of the Native Americans and their relationship with European Americans varies in the written works of the people of the time, with the defining difference in these works being the motives behind the writing. These differences and similarities can be seen in two similar works from two rather different authors, John Smith, and Mary Rowlandson.

The relationship between the English and the Native Americans in 1600 to 1700 is one of the most fluctuating and the most profound relationships in American history. On the one side of the picture, the harmony between Wampanoag and Puritans even inspires them to celebrate “first Thanksgiving”; while, by contrast, the conflicts between the Pequots and the English urge them to antagonize each other, and even wage a war. In addition, the mystery of why the European settlers, including English, become the dominant power in American world, instead of the indigenous people, or Indians, can be solved from the examination of the relationship. In a variety of ways, the relationship drastically alters how people think about and relate to the aborigines. Politically, the relationship changes to establish the supremacy of the English; the English intends to obtain the land and rules over it. Socially, the relationship changes to present the majority of the English settlers; the dominating population is mostly the English settlers. Economically, the relationship changes to obtain the benefit of the English settlers; they gain profit from the massive resource in America. Therefore, the relationship does, in fact, change to foreshadow the discordance of the two groups of people.

The arrival of the ‘foreigners’, as referred to by the Native Americans, turned a new stone in Native American diplomacy. No longer did they have to only deal with neighboring tribes, as they were forced to endeavor into politics with strangers who were looking to take their land. The first relationship between the pilgrims and the Native Americans began with the Wampanoag tribe. The relations between the two groups paved the view that the pilgrims had towards the Indians. The decently friendly relationship that stood between the two groups was short lived as the pilgrims felt that the indians were getting in the way of their expansion; and shortly after the friendship ceased to exist (Bell, 37).

When the first European colonists arrived in 1620 on land in the New World, a disaster was forming. Arriving in what is known today as Massachusetts on The Mayflower, the settlers didn’t have enough experience surviving cold, harsh winters causing almost half of the settlers to die that had arrived on The Mayflower. This had changed in 1621 with the help of the Native people. The American Indians had started teaching the English people how to do many things including harvesting and growing crops. This help from the Native’s had led to the first Thanksgiving between the two groups. These two societies, however, didn’t remain friends. The English settlers had kicked off the American Indians of their own land and tried to make them convert to Christianity. The English settlers had also brought diseases from Europe causing many Indians to get very sick and even some die.

Throughout time there has been people who for some reason or another cannot get along, Thomas Morton and William Bradford are no different. Thomas Morton’s and William Bradford’s had a contentious relationship fueled their narratives New English Cannon and Of Plymouth Plantation. Both Morton and Bradford attempt to soil the other’s name by writing about their contradictory experiences with each other. But who comes out of this situation the true hero, Morton or Bradford? William Bradford’s emotional outbursts and irrational thinking regarding Thomas Morton overshadows any good he has done in Plymouth, making William Bradford the anti- colonial hero.

The Native Americans wanted to trade and help the Early Settlers out, but the Early Settlers refused any help and refused to trade. “Communication and Trust are two main ingredients for a successful RELATIONSHIP.” (Unknown). The Early Settlers did not trust the Native Americans, they thought differently and lived a different lifestyle . The Early Settlers also did not want any Communication at all with the Native Americans. The Native Americans wanted to trade and wanted to communicate with the Early Settlers but they wouldn’t. The Native Americans also wanted to trust the Early Settlers but it is hard to trust someone who doesn’t trust you. Therefore, they couldn’t have a relationship. “The House stood upon the edge of a Hill; some of the Indians got behind the Hill, others into the Barn, and others behind anything that would shelter them” (Rowlandson, J.). The Native Americans wanted to go there and offer a trade and wanted to form a relationship but was shut down so they tried to force one, they think that if they kidnap people, the Early Settlers will want to agree to get their people back. It did not work that way so they had a battle. When they went into battle it was led to believe that it was the start of their war. The Native Americans really tried to form a relationship but could not due to the Early Settlers not wanting to do such a

The relationships between the two were somewhat composed, but many conflicts and tensions rose between the two regularly. When the colonists arrived, the Native Americans were able to help by teaching their lifestyles to the new travelers, training them to effectively grow crops and build canoes. Also, the textbook states that one of the primary reasons they were able to survive in the harsh conditions was because of Indian's guidance in creating a livable colony. The Indians were joining settlers with trading activities as well as being educated with religion and culture. But when conflicts arose, including the colonist's desire for land, tensions grew more and more. The Native Americans were now though as a "threat" to the colonists' hopes

In September of 1620, the Mayflower full of Puritans not satisfied with the system of the Church of England and people referred to as “strangers” began their voyage (Desperate Crossing). One of the accounts is a documentary called Desperate Crossing: Untold Story of the Mayflower. Another account was by a puritan man named William Bradford who was among the passengers of the Mayflower and wrote “Of Plymouth Plantation” throughout his journey. His account was written in plain style so the common man can read it. The use of plain style is effective in historical writing and in William Bradford’s “Of Plymouth Plantation” plain style did not affect the main details of their journey, but rather his bias when comparing the writing to Desperate Crossing: Untold Story of the Mayflower.