William Bradford
(1590-1657)
William Bradford's life displayed a mixture of
the commonplace and the extraordinary that was
characteristic of the Puritan experience. Bradford was the son of a prosperous farmer in Yorkshire, England. His father died when William
was a baby, and the child was raised by his
grandparents and uncles. It was assumed that
the young man would take over the family holdings when he came of age; in keeping with this
expectation, he received no higher education but
instead was taught the practical arts of farming.
Despite his lack of formal training (or perhaps
because of it), Bradford was to become a successful, longstanding Colonial governor in the
New World, dealing out justice and settling disputes of all kinds. He would also write the first
history that depicts America as a unique social
experiment.
Bradford might have become the prosperous
Yorkshire farmer he was prepared to become if
he had not taken a radical step when he was
twelve years old. Inspired by his reading of the
Bible and by the sermons of a Puritan minister,
he joined a small group of Nonconformists despite the vehement objections of his family and
friends. The group could not worship publicly,
so they met furtively in a private house in the
nearby town of Scrooby. Seven years later, under increasing pressure of persecution and fearful that they would be imprisoned, the Scrooby
group crossed the North Sea to Holland. There,
Bradford set up a weaving business. He also
married Dorothy May, a young woman who was
a fellow emigrant from England, and the couple
had a child. In 1620, after ten years in Holland,
the group was aided by London profiteers and
merchants, who lent them a ship and crew as an
investment, and the Nonconformists sailed for
the New World.
For Bradford, the hardships of the ocean voyage did not end with the landing at Plymouth. In
December, while the Mayflower was anchored in
Provincetown Bay, Bradford and other men took
a small boat ashore to scout for a place to land
and build shelter. When they returned, Bradford
learned that his young wife had fallen or jumped
Pilgrim Society, Plymouth, Massachusetts.
from the ship and was drowned. The act may
well have been suicide. Dorothy Bradford had
been on the crowded ship for more than two
months, and when land was finally sighted, she
did not see the hoped-for green hills of an
earthly paradise. Beyond the ship lay only the
bleak sand dunes of Cape Cod. That bitter winter, half the settlers were to die of cold, disease,
and malnutrition.
The following year, Bradford was elected governor of the plantation at the age of thirty-one.
"Had he not been a person of more than ordinary piety, wisdom, and courage," the Puritan
preacher Cotton Mather later recorded, "he
must have sunk" under the difficulties of governing such a shaky settlement. But, Mather
continued, Bradford had been "laying up a treasure of experience, and he had now occasion to
use it." Bradford proved an exemplary leader,
and he went on to be elected governor of the
Colony no fewer than thirty times.
In 1630, Bradford began to write a history of
the Plymouth Colony from its beginning. He
continued writing an annual account of the settlement until 1647. His record, OJ Plymouth
Plantation, was not composed for immediate
William Bradford
11
publication or to attract more colonists, like
many other early Colonial accounts. It was written for posterity, although by the end of his life
Bradford's dreams of that posterity had been
shattered.
As the years passed, the plantation at Plymouth prospered economically. Beaver pelts from
the Indians brought good money in England, and
eventually the plantation managed to payoff its
debt. But as the group prospered and grew, it
also became more diffuse and less pious. Despite
Bradford's efforts to hold it together, the Plymouth Colony gradually disintegrated as a religious community. The ideal of the "city on the
hill," the Pilgrims' dream of an ideal society
founded on religious principles, gradually gave
way to the realities of life in the New World.
Bradford's record of this grand experiment ends
in disappointment. When more fertile areas for
settlement were found and when Boston became
a more convenient port to England, Plymouth
Thj Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor
1)y W. F. Halsall (1882). Oil.
12
The Colonial Period: The Age of Faith
lost much of its population-especially its young
people. "Thus was this poor church left," Bradford wrote in 1644, near the conclusion of his
history, "like an ancient mother grown old and
forsaken of her children. She that had made so
many rich became herself poor."
The first nine chapters of Bradford's history
were copied into the Plymouth church records,
but the entire manuscript was later lost. Most
likely it was carried back to England as a souvenir by a British soldier during the Revolutionary
War. The soldier might have sold it for a few
cents to a bookseller in London. It was almost a
century later that Governor Bradford's vellumbound volume was discovered in the library of
the Bishop of London. Of Plymouth Plantation
was first published in 1856 by the Massachusetts
Historical Society. Mter long negotiations, the
manuscript was finally returned to the United
States in 1897. It can be seen today in the Statehouse in Boston.
Pilgrim Society, Plymouth, Massachusetts.
OF PLYMOUTH
PLANTATION
FROM
The following extracts from Bradford's history
describe some celebrated events: the landing at
Plymouth, the framing of the Mayflower Compact, the Pilgrims' early encounters with the native inhabitants, and their first Thanksgiving. In
the first paragraph, notice how matter-of-fact
Bradford is about God's role in their voyage.
Look for similar references to Divine Providence
in the rest of the history. Note also how outward
events contain an inner, spiritual significance.
eptember 6 [1620]. These troubles 1 being
blown over, and now all being compact together in one ship, they put to sea again with
a prosperous wind, which continued divers [many]
days together, which was some encouragement
unto them; yet, according to the usual manner,
many were afflicted with seasickness. And I may
not omit here a special work of God's Providence.
There was a proud and very profane young man,
one of the seamen, of a lusty [energetic], able
body, which made him the more haughty; he
would always be condemning the poor people in
their sickness and cursing them daily with grievous execrations; and did not let to tell them that
he hoped to help to cast half of them overboard
before they came to their journey's end, and to
make merry with what they had; and if he were
by any gently reproved, he would curse and swear
most bitterly. But it pleased God before they came
half seas over, to smite this young man with a
grievous disease, of which he died in a desperate
manner, and so was himself the first that was
thrown overboard. Thus his curses light on his
own head, and it was an astonishment to all his
fellows, for they noted it to be the just hand of
God upon him.
After they had enjoyed fair winds and weather
for a season, they were encountered many times
with crosswinds and met with many fierce storms,
with which the ship was shroudly2 shaken and her
upper works made very leaky; and one ofthe main
beams in the midships was bowed and cracked,
which put them in some fear that the ship could
not be able to perform the voyage. So some of the
chief of the company, perceiving the mariners to
fear the sufficiency of the ship, as appeared by
their mutterings, they entered into serious consultation with the master and other officers of the
ship, to consider in time of the danger, and rather
to return than to cast themselves into a desperate
and inevitable peril. And truly there was great
distraction and difference of opinion amongst the
mariners themselves; fain [gladly] would they do
what could be done for their wages' sake (being
now near half the seas over), and on the other
hand they were loath [reluctant] to hazard their
lives too desperately. But in examining all opinions, the master and others affinned they knew
the ship to be strong and firm under water; and
for the buckling of the main beam, there was a
great iron screw the passengers brought out of
Holland, which would raise the beam into his
place; the which being done, the carpenter and
master affirmed that with a post put under it, set
firm in the lower deck, and otherways bound, he
would make it sufficient. And as for the decks and
upper works, they would caulk them as well as
they could, and though with the working of the
ship they would not long keep staunch [watertight], yet there would otherwise be no great danger, if they did not overpress her with sails. So
they committed themselves to the will of God and
resolved to proceed.
I. troubles: the return of the Speedwell to England and the
transf~f)er passengers to the Mayflower.
2. shroudly: shrewdly, used here in its archaic sense of
"wickedly.' '
Chapter 9
Of Their Voyage, and How They Passed the
Sea; and of Their Safe Arrival At Cape Cod
S
William Bradford
13
/'
In sundry of these storms the winds were so
fierce and the seas so high as they could not bear
a knot of sail, but were forced to hu1l 3 for divers
days together. And in one of them, as they thus
lay at hull in a mighty storm, a lusty young man
called John Howland, coming upon some occasion
above the gratings, was, with a seele [roll] of the
ship, thrown into sea; but it pleased God that he
caught hold of the topsail halyards which hung
overboard and ran out at length. Yet he held his
hold (though he was sundry fathoms under water)
till he was hauled up by the same rope to the brim
of the water, and then with a boat hook and other
means got into the ship again and his life saved.
And though he was something ill with it, yet he
lived many years after and became a profitable
member both in church and commonwealth. In all
this voyage there died but one of the passengers,
which was William Butten, a youth, servant to
Samuel Fuller, when they drew near the coast.
But to omit other things (that I may be brief)
after long beating at sea they fell with that land
which is called Cape Cod;4 the which being made
and certainly known to be it, they were not a little
joyful. After some deliberation had amongst themselves and with the master of the ship, they tacked
about and resolved to stand for the southward (the
wind and weather being fair) to find some place
about Hudson's RiverS for their habitation. But
after they had sailed that course about half the
day, they fell amongst dangerous shoals and roaring breakers, and they were so far entangled therewith as they conceived themselves in great
danger; and the wind shrinking upon them withal,
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 good
Providence they did. And the next day 6 they
got into the Cape Harbor,7 where they rid in
safety....
Being thus arrived in a good harbor, and
bn;"ught safe to land, they feU upon their knees
and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought
them over the vast and furious ocean, and deliv3. hull: lay to and drift under short sail.
4. They sighted Cape Cod at daybreak on November 9, 1620.
5. They were trying for Manhattan Island. Henry Hudson had
made his voyage in 1609 and had claimed the area for the
Dutch, but the English did not recognize the Dutch claim.
6. November II. The sea voyage from England had taken
sixty-five days.
7. Cape Harbor is now Provincetown Harbor.
14 The Colonial Period: The Age of Faith
ered them from all the perils and miseries thereof,
again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth,
their proper element. . . .
But here I cannot but stay and make a pause,
and stand half amazed at this poor people's present condition; and so I think will the reader, too,
when he well considers the same. Being thus
passed the vast ocean, and a sea of troubles before
in their preparation (as may be remembered by
that which went before), they had now no friends
to welcome them nor inns to entertain or refresh
their weather-beaten bodies; no houses or much
less towns to repair to, to seek for succor [aid]. It
is recorded in Scripture 8 as a mercy to the Apostle
and his shipwrecked company, that the barbarians
showed them no small kindness in refreshing
them, but these savage barbarians, when they met
with them (as after will appear) were readier to fill
their sides full of arrows than otherwise. And for
the season it was winter, and they that know the
winters of that country know them to be sharp
and violent, and subject to cruel and fierce storms,
dangerous to travel to unknown places, much
more to search an unknown coast. Besides, what
could they see but a hideous and desolate wilderness, full of wild beasts and wild men-and what
multitudes there might be of them they knew not.
Neither could they, as it were, go up to the top of
Pisgah9 to view from this wilderness a more
goodly country to feed their hopes; for which way
soever they turned their eyes (save upward to the
heavens) they could have little solace or content
in respect of any outward objects. For summer
being done, aU things stand upon them with a
weather-beaten face, and the whole country, full
of woods and thickets, represented a wild and
savage hue. If they looked behind them, there was
the mighty ocean which they had passed and was
now as a main bar and gulf to separate them from
all the civil parts of the world....
What could now sustain them but the Spirit of
God and His grace? May not and ought not the
children of these fathers rightly say: "Our fathers
8. In the Acts of the Apostles (Chapter 28), St. Paul tells how
the shipwrecked Christians were helped by the "barbarous
people" of Malta.
9. Pisgah was the mountain from which Moses first viewed
the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 34: I).
r-- ...
were Englishmen which came over this great
ocean, and were ready to perish in this wilderness;
but they cried unto the Lord, and He heard their
voice and looked on their adversity," 10 etc? "Let
them therefore praise the Lord, because He is
good: and His mercies endure forever." "Yea, let
them which have been redeemed of the Lord,
shew how He hath delivered them from the hand
of the oppressor. When they wandered in the desert wilderness out of the way, and found no city
to dwell in, both hungry and thirsty, their soul was
overwhelmed in them. Let them confess before
the Lord His lovingkindness and His wonderful
works before the sons of men.,,1l
Chapter 10
Showing How They Sought out a Place of
Habitation; and What Befell Them Thereabout
[1620] Being thus arrived at Cape Cod the 11th of
November, and necessity calling them to look out
a place for habitation (as well as the master's and
mariners' importunity); they having brought a
large shallopl2 with them out of England, stowed
in quarters in the ship, they now got her out and
set their carpenters to work to trim her up; but
being much bruised and shattered in the ship with
foul weather, they saw she would be long in mending. Whereupon a few of them tendered themselves to go by land and discover those nearest
places, whilst the shallop was in mending; and the
rather because as they went into that harbor there
seemed to be an opening some two or three
leagues 13 off, which the master judged to be a
river. It was conceived there might be some danger in the attempt, yet seeing them resolute, they
were permitted to go, being sixteen of them well
armed under the conduct of Captain Standish,14
having such instructions given them as was
thGught meet.
They set forth the 15th of November; and when
they had marched about the space of a mile by
10. A quotation from Deuteronomy 26:7.
II. The quotations are from Psalm 107.
12. shallop: a small, open boat. This one was fitted with oars
and a sail.
13. leagues: one league is equivalent to about three miles.
14. Myles Standish (1584--1656) was a soldier who had been
hired to handle the colonists' military affairs. Not a member
of the Puritan congregation, he still became one of their
staunchest supporters.
the seaside, they espied five or six persons with a
dog coming toward them who were savages; but
they fled from them and ran up into the woods,
and the English followed them, partly to see if
they could speak with them and partly to discover
if there might not be more of them lying in ambush. But the Indians, seeing themselves thus followed, they again forsook the woods and ran away
on the sands as hard as they could, so as they
could not come near them but followed them by
the track of their feet sundry miles and saw that
they had come the same way. So, night coming
on, they made their rendezvous and set out their
sentinels, and rested in quiet that night; and the
next morning followed their track till they had
headed a great creek and so left the sands, and
turned another way into the woods. But they still
followed them by guess, hoping to find their dwellings; but they soon lost both them and themselves,
falling into such thickets as were ready to tear
their clothes and armor in pieces; but were most
distressed for want of drink. But at length they
found water and refreshed themselves, being the
first New England water they drunk of, and was
now in great thirst as pleasant unto them as wine
or beer had been in foretimes.
Afterward they directed their course to come
to the other shore, for they knew it was a neck of
land they were to cross over, and so at length got
to the seaside and marched to this supposed river,
and by the way found a pond of clear, fresh water,
and shortly after a good quantity of clear ground
where the Indians had formerly set corn, and some
of their graves. And proceeding further they saw
new stubble where corn had been set the same
year, also they found where lately a house had
been, where some planks and a great kettle were
remaining, and heaps of sand newly paddled with
their hands. Which, they digging up, found in them
divers fair Indian baskets filled with corn, and
some in ears, fair and good, of divers colors,
which seemed to them a very goodly sight (having
never seen any such before). This was near the
place of that supposed river they came to seek, to
which they went and found it to open itself into
two arms with a high cliff of sand in the entrance
but more like to be creeks of salt water than any
fresh, for aught they saw; and that there was good
harborage for their shallop, leaving it further to
be discovered by their shallop, when she was
ready. So, their time limited them being expired,
they returned to the ship lest they should be in
William Bradford
15
Landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth by Michel Felice Corne (1803). Oil.
fear of their safety; and took with them part of the
corn and buried up the rest. ...
After this, the shallop being got ready. they set
out again for the better discovery of this place,
and the master of the ship desired to go himself.
So there went some thirty men but found it to be
no harbor for ships but only for boats. There was
also found two of their houses [the Indians'] covered with mats, and sundry of their implements in
them, but the people were run away and could not
16
The Colonial Period: The Age of Faith
be seen. Also there was found more of their corn
and of their beans of various colors; the corn and
beans they brought away. purposing to give them
full satisfaction when they should meet with any
of them, as about some six months afterward they
did, to their good content.
And here is to be noted a special Providence of
God, and a great mercy to this poor people, that
here they got seed to plant them corn the next
year, or el se they might have starved, for they had
Pilgrim Society, Plymouth, Massachusetts.
none nor any likelihood to get any till the season
had been past, as the sequel did manifest. Neither
is it likely they had had this if the first voyage had
not been made, for the ground was now all covered with snow and hard frozen; but the Lord is
never wanting unto His in their greatest needs; let
His holy name have all the praise.
The month of November being spent in these
affairs, and much foul weather falling in, the 6th
of December they sent out their shallop again with
ten of their principal men and some seamen, upon
further discovery, intending to circulate that deep
bay of Cape Cod. The weather was very cold and
it froze so hard as the spray of the sea lighting on
their coats; they were as if they had been glazed.
Yet that night betimes they got down into the
bottom of the bay, and as they drew near the shore
they saw some ten or twelve Indians very busy
about something. They landed about a league or
two from them, and had much ado to put ~shol"e
anywhere-it lay so full of flats. Being lan~~d,-ir~
grew late and they made themselves a barricado
with logs and boughs as well-as-rlleY coulQ1rnhe
time, and set out their sentinel and betook them
to rest, and saw the smoke of the fire the savages
made that night. When morning was come they
divided their company, some to coast along the
shore in the boat, and the rest marched through
the woods to see the land, if any fit place might
be for their dwelling. They came also to the place
where they saw the Indians the night before, and
found they had been cutting up a great fish like a
gral11pus" being some two inches thick of fat like
a 110g~ some pieces whereof they had left by the
way. And the shallop found two more of these
fishes dead on the sands, a thing usual after storms
in that place, by reason of the great flats of sand
that lie off. . . .
From hence they departed and coasted all along
but discerned no place likely for harbor; and therefore hasted to a place that their pilot (one Mr.
Coppin, who had been in the country before) did
assure them was a good harbor, which he had been
in, and they might fetch it before night; of which
they were glad, fodt began to be foul weather.
After some hours' sailing, it began to snow and
rain, and about the middle of the afternoon the
wind increased and the sea became very rough,
and they broke their rudder, and it was as much
as two men could do to steer her with a couple of
oars. But their pilot bade them be of good cheer,
for he saw the harbor; but the storm increasing,
and night drawing on, they bore what sail they
could to get in while they could see. But herewith
they broke their mast in three pieces and their sail
fell overboard in a very grown sea, so as they had
like to have been cast away. Yet by God's mercy
they recovered themselves and, having the flood
[the tide] with them, struck into the harbor. But
when it came to, the pilot was deceived in the
place, and said the Lord be merciful unto them,
for his eyes never saw that place before; and he
William Bradford
17
and the master's mate would have run her ashore
in a cove full of breakers before the wind. But a
lusty seaman which steered bade those which
rowed, if they were men, about with her or else
they were all cast away; the which they did with
speed. So he bid them be of good cheer and row
lustily, for there was a fair sound before them, and
he doubted not but they should find one place or
other where they might ride in safety. And though
it was very dark and rained sore, yet in the end
they got under the lee of a small island and remained there all that night in safety. But they knew
not this to be an island till morning, but were
divided in their minds; some would keep the boat
for fear they might be amongst the Indians; others
were so wet and cold they could not endure, but
got ashore, and with much ado got fire (all things
being so wet); and the rest were glad to come to
them, for after midnight the wind shifted to the
northwest and it froze hard.
But though this had been a day and night of
much trouble and danger unto them, yet God gave
them a morning of comfort and refreshing (as usually He doth to His children), for the next day
was a fair, sunshining day, and they found themselves to be on an island secure from the Indians,
where they might dry their stuff, fix their pieces,
and rest themselves; and gave God thanks for His
mercies in their manifold deliverances. And this
being the last day of the week, they prepared there
to keep the Sabbath.
On Monday they sounded the harbor and found
it fit for shipping, and marched into the land and
found divers cornfields and little running brooks,
a place (as they supposed) fit for situation. At least
it was the best they could find, and the season and
their present necessity made them glad to accept
of it. So they returned to their ship again with this
news to the rest of their people, which did much
comfort their hearts.
On the 15th of December they weighed anchor
to go to the place they had discovered, and came
within two leagues of it, but were fain to bear up
again; but the 16th day, the wind came fair, and
they arrived safe in this harbor. And afterward
took better view of the place, and resolved where
to pitch their dwelling; and the 25th day began to
erect the first house for common use to receive
them and their goodS. 15
15. This text is the only account written by a participant of
the famous landing at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620.
18
The Colonial Period: The Age of Faith
From
Chapter 11
The Starving Time
[1620-1621] But that which was most sad and lamentable was that in two or three months' time
half of their company died, especially in January
and February, being the depth of winter, and wanting houses and othercomrorts;beinginfected with
the scurvy and other diseases which this long voyage and their inaccommodate condition had
brought upon them. So as there died sometimes
two or three of a day in the foresaid time, that of
100 and odd persons, scarce fifty remained. And
of these, in the time of most distress, there was
but six or seven sound persons who to their great
commendations, be it spoken, spared no pains
night nor day, but with abundance of toil and hazard of their own health, fetched them wood, made
them fires, dressed them meat, made their beds,
washed their loathsome clothes,' clothed and unclothed them: in a word, did all the homely and
necessary offices for them which dainty and
queasy stomachs cannot endure to hear named;
and all this willingly and cheerfully, without any
grudging in the least, showing herein their true
love unto their friends and brethren; a rare example and worthy to be remembered. Two of
these seven were Mr. William Brewster, their reverend elder, and Myles Standish, their captain and
military commander, to whom myself and many
others were much beholden in our low and sick
condition. And yet the Lord so upheld these persons as in this general calamity they were not at
all infected either with sickness or lameness. And
what I have said of these I may say of many others
who died in this general visitation, and others yet
living; that whilst they had health, yea, or any
strength continuing, they were not wanting to any
that had need of them. And I doubt not but their
recompense is with the Lord.
But I may not here pass by another remarkable
passage not to be forgotten. As this calamity fell
among the passengers that were to be left here to
plant, and were hasted ashore and made to drink
water that the seamen might have the more beer,
and one l6 in his sickness desiring but a small can
of beer, it was answered that if he were their own
father he should have none. The disease began to
16. This is Bradford himself.
fall amongst them [the seamen] also, so as almost
half of their company died before they went away,
and many of their officers and lustiest men, as the
boatswain, gunner, three quartermasters, the
cook, and others. At which the master was something strucken and sent to the sick ashore and told
the governor he should send for beer for them that
had need of it, though he drank water homeward
bound.
But now amongst his [the ship master's] company there was far another kind of carriage in this
misery than amongst the passengers. For they that
before had been boon companions in drinking and
jollity in the time of their health and welfare began
now to desert one another in this calamity, saying
they would not hazard their lives for them, they
should be infected by coming to help them in their
cabins; and so, after they came to lie by it, would
do little or nothing for them but, "If they died, let
them die." But such of the passengers as were yet
aboard showed them what mercy they could,
which made some of their hearts relent, as the
boatswain (and some others), who was a proud
young man and would often curse and scoff at the
passengers. But when he grew weak, they had
compassion on him and helped him; then he confessed he did not deserve it at their hands, he had
abused them in word and deed. "Oh!" (saith he)
"you, I now see, show your love like Christians
indeed one to another, but we let one another lie
and die like dogs." Another lay cursing his wife,
saying if it had not been for her he had never come
this unlucky voyage, and anon cursing his fellows,
saying he had done this and that for some of them;
he had spent so much and so much amongst them,
and they were now weary of him and did not help
him, having need. Another gave his companion all
he had, if he died, to help him in his weakness;
he went and got a little spice and made him a mess
of meat once or twice. And because he died not
so soon as he expected, he went among his fellows
and swore the rogue would cozen [cheat] him, he
would see him choked before he made him any
more meat; and yet the poor fellow died before
morning.
Indian Relations
All this while the Indians came skulking about
them, and would sometimes show themselves
aloof off, but when any approached near them,
they would run away; and once they stole away
their tools where they had been at work and were
gone to dinner. But about the 16th of March, a
certain Indian came boldly amongst them and
spoke to them in broken English, which they could
well understand but marveled at it. At length they
understood, by discourse with him, that he was
not of these parts but belonged to the eastern parts
where some English ships came to fish, with
whom he was acquainted and could name sundry
of them by their names, amongst whom he had
got his language. He became profitable to them in
acquainting them with many things concerning the
state of the country in the east parts where he
lived, which was afterward profitable unto them;
as also of the people here, of their names, number,
and strength, of their situation and distance from
this place, and who was chief amongst them. His
name was Samoset. 17 He told them also of another
Indian whose name was Squanto, 18 a native of this
place, who had been in England and could speak
better English than himself.
Being, after some time of entertainment and
gifts, dismissed, a while after he came again, and
five more with him, and they brought again all the
tools that were stolen away before, and made way
for the coming of their great Sachem, called Massasoit. 19 Who, about four or five days after, came
with the chief of his friends and other attendance,
with the aforesaid Squanto. With whom, after
friendly entertainment and some gifts given him,
they made a peace with him (which hath now
continued this 24 years)20 in these terms:
1. That neither he nor any of his should injure
or do hurt to any of their people.
2. That if any of his did hurt to any of theirs,
he should send the offender, that they might punish him.
3. That if anything were taken away from any
of theirs, he should cause it to be restored; and
they should do the like to his.
4. If any did unjustly war against him, they
would aid him; if any did war against them, he
should aid them.
5. He should send to his neighbors confederates
17. Sarnoset was an Algonquin from Maine.
18. Squanto was the sole survivor of the Pawtuckets.
19. Massasoit was the sachem (chief) of the Wampanoag and
presided from a place called Sowarns , the present-day site of
Barrington, Rhode Island.
20. The treaty was kept faithfully until the reign of Massasoit's
son Metacomet, known as King Philip by the colonists. See
Mary Rowlandson's narrative on page 24.
William Bradford
19
The First Thanksgiving by Jennie Brownscombe (1914). Oil.
Pilgrim Society, Plymouth, Massachusetts.
to certify them of this, that they might not wrong
them, but might be likewise comprised in the conditions of peace.
6. That when their men came to them, they
should leave their bows and arrows behind them.
First Thanksgiving
After these things he returned to his place,
called Sowams, some 40 miles from this place, but
Squanto continued with them and was their interpreter and was a special instrument sent of God
for their good beyond their expectation. He directed them how to set their corn, where to take
fish and to procure other commodities, and was
also their pilot to bring them to unknown places
for their profit, and never left them till he died.
He was a native of this place, and scarce any left
alive besides himself. He was carried away with
divers others by one Hunt, a master of a ship,
who thought to sell them for slaves in Spain. But
he got away for England and was entertained by
a merchant in London, and employed to Newfoundland and other parts, and lastly brought
hither into these parts by one Mr. Dermer, a gentleman employed by Sir Ferdinando Gorges and
others for discovery and other designs in these
parts ....
20
The Colonial Period: The Age of Faith
[1621] They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in
health and strength and had all things in good
plenty. For as some were thus employed in affairs
abroad, others were exercised in fishing, about
cod and bass and other fish, of which they took
good store, of which every family had their portion. All the summer there was no want; and now
began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when
they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besides waterfowl there was great
store of wild turkeys, of which they took many,
\ besides venison, etc. Besides they had about a
peck of meal a week to a person, or now since
harvest, Indian corn to that proportion. Which
made many afterward write so largely of their
plenty here to their friends in England, which were
not feigned but true reports.
Responding to the History
Analyzing the History
A Critical Response
Identifying Facts
2. Contrasting Two Historical Accounts. Captain John
Smith (1579-1631) had led the first permanent Eng-
1. Historian Samuel Eliot Morison has said that "Bradford ... had a constant sense of an unseen hand ...
that seemed to be guiding Puritan policy." What
events on the voyage to the New World does Bradford
credit to the direct intervention of God?
2. According to the end of Chapter 9, what hardships
and dangers still face the settlers after the voyage is
over? According to Bradford, what is the one thing
that can sustain the group during these trials?
3. The famous entry in Chapter 10 reports in detail on
the Pilgrims' first landing in the New World. What
events during those first explorations does Bradford
credit to God's Providence?
4. Bradford wrote his history of the "Old Comers" in part
for the newcomers, the young people who, he hoped,
would carryon the Pilgrims' ideals. What acts of charity and kindness during the "Starving Time" (Chapter
11) would remind later Puritans of their uniqueness
and their obligations to their community?
Interpreting Meanings
5. Consider the treaty drawn up with Massasoit (page
19), and explain whether or not you feel its terms
were equally favorable to both parties. What seems to
be Bradford's attitude toward the Indians?
6. There is a certain timelessness in the Pilgrims' story.
What practical and ethical problems common to many
societies are reflected in their experience? In what
ways might this wilderness experience be relevant to
contemporary pilgrims or pioneers?
7. One event that Bradford does not describe is the death
of his wife, who either fell or jumped overboard in
Provincetown Harbor. How would his history have
been different if he had included this tragedy? What
reasons can you propose for his having omitted it?
8. Using what you have read, comment on the famous
painting on page 20. Do you think it is realistic? Or
does it idealize the First Thanksgiving?
Writing About the History
A Creative Response
1. Using Another Point of View. Retell the events of Chapter 10 from the poi nt of view of one of the Native
Americans who came upon the scouts. Narrate on Iy
what the observer would see happening and what you
imagine he or she might be feeling.
lish settlement in the New World, at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. He hoped to establish another colony
in New England, and in order to attract settlers, he
wrote a pamphlet. Here is how Smith, somewhat like
a contemporary travel agent, attempted to persuade
people to join him in the New World:
Here nature and liberty afford us that freely which in
England we want, or it costs us dearly. What pleasure
can be more than (being tired with any occasion
ashore) 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, etc., to re-create themselves before their
own doors, in their own boats upon the sea, where
man, woman, and child, with a small hook and line,
by angling, may take divers sorts of excellent fish at
their pleasures? And is it not pretty sport to pull up
two pence, six pence, and twelve pence as fast as you
can haul and veer a line? He is a very bad fisher [who]
cannot kill in one day with his hook and line one, two,
or three hundred cods, which dressed and dried, if
they be sold there for ten shillings the hundred
[pounds], though in England they will give more than
twenty, may not both the servant, the master, and
merchant be well content with this gain? If a man work
but three days in seven, he may get more than he can
spend, unless he will be excessive....
For hunting also, the woods, lakes, and rivers afford
not only chase sufficient for any that delight in that
kind of toil or pleasure, but such beasts to hunt that
besides the delicacy of their bodies for food, their skins
are so rich as may well recompense thy daily labor with
a captain's pay.
-from "A Description of New England," 1616,
John Smith
Write a brief essay in which you contrast John Smith's
promises with William Bradford's actual experiences in
the New World. Begin by contrasting the purposes of the
two writers and their intended audiences. Then mention
at least three idealistic promises Smith makes and contrast these with Bradford's real experiences. You may also
want to point out what Smith omits from his pamphlet.
Finally, describe the different kinds of newcomers each
writer was likely to attract, and explain the reasons for
your answer.
William Bradford
21