Often when looking at American history, people tend to lump all the characters and actors involved as similar. This is especially the case in regards to Early American Colonial history. Because the Puritan communities that grew rapidly after John Winthrop’s arrival in 1630 often overshadow the earlier colony at Plymouth, many are lead to assume that all settlers acted in similar ways with regard to land use, religion, and law. By analyzing the writings of William Bradford and John Winthrop, one begins to see differing pictures of colonization in New England. William Bradford (1590-1657) was probably the most famous Pilgrim that journeyed to Plymouth. Aboard the Mayflower, his peers chose Bradford as the future governor of the English separatist …show more content…
A religious man, he previously had traveled to England with a large contingent of puritans that wished to establish both a religious and economic colony in the New World. Right before the Massachusetts Bay Company departed in 1829, Winthrop became the governor. He landed in Salem in the year 1830 with over a thousand settlers. He then served as governor until his death. Like William Bradford, John Winthrop’s journal is a chief source for many studying the American Colonial period. The more visible difference between the two colonies lies in their views of religion and their practices of Christianity. Pilgrims and Puritans were Protestants who differed in degree. While both followed the teaching of John Calvin, a cardinal difference distinguished one group from the other: Pilgrims were Puritans who had abandoned local parishes and formed small congregations of their own because the Church of England was not holy enough to meet their standards. They were labeled …show more content…
Initially, William Bradford’s colonies were communalistic in nature. In order for the Pilgrims to get the financial support they needed to go to the New World, they joined with a group of “adventurers” who helped finance the voyage. The two groups made a pact to ensure the unity and success of the colony. Because of this pact, communalism was essential to the survival of the colony, and all had to act with the community in mind. There was no room for individual desires or wealth. According to the rules that were established, the colonial government assigned different people specific tasks to which they were best suited; some were fishermen, some farmers, others artisans, all focusing on making the community stronger and more successful. A license was required to fish, and the colony regulated virtually every element of food production and land use. Each person was obligated to donate some of his crop to the community, in order that no one would be rich, and no one would be poor. All profits made off one’s land would be property of the community and used to support the colonial government as well as provide supplies to new settlers who came without the necessary provisions for survival. Preservation of the environment was not the primary goal of these laws, but they did inadvertently put a check on how much land the
Hmmm…this was a very interesting letter written by John Winthrop to Sir Nathaniel Rich and is definitely very different from Sebastian Brandt’s letter describing Jamestown. Winthrop is the first governor (and very proud!) of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and clearly wrote this letter with authority and confidence. As the governor, he also had the “burden” to prove to the audience, in this case, Sir Nathaniel Rich, a wealthy Puritan sympathizer in England, that the Colony was thriving and in good condition. In contrast, Winthrop’s 1631 letter to his wife had a much different tone. In it, he wrote that the Massachusetts colony was not faring well until a ship bearing supplies finally arrived. It is clear that Boston wasn’t faring as well as it
Because of his restlessness in England, Smith became actively involved with plans to colonize Virginia, which had been granted a charter from King James I. After setting sail, this famous expedition finally reached Virginia in April, after enduring a lengthy voyage of over four months in three tiny ships. John Smith was one of the seven chosen to govern and start the colony. He took a...
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The settlers of the Jamestown were members of the great Anglican Church, which was the official Church of England while the Pilgrims were dissenters from the Church and established the Puritan faith. Due to the Jamestown settlers being a part of the Anglican faith, they were not under any fear of religious persecution. They remained loyal to their superiors. The Puritans were separatists, which was considered an act of treason at the time. They believed that the Church was still too connected to the old ways.
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 seventeenth century was marked with a wide revolution for exploration, to a new world filled with land and opportunity. In William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation, we are given a window into the exclusive lives of the pilgrims and their experiences along their journey to and through Massachusetts. We are able to read the account that “epitomizes the spirit of determination and self-sacrifice that seems to us characteristic of our first ‘Pilgrims.’” Bradford’s narrative plainly, yet elegantly describes the success, failures, triumph and unity in the early beginnings of the new founded puritan community.
John Winthrop was given the role of Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which was the first major settlement, and his original aim as governor of this land was to make the colony a democracy. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was a successful settlement thanks to the group of governors and leaders the colony had. Even though Winthrop did not succeed making the Massachusetts Bay Colony a democratic colony he was still a great leader because of his leadership skills, he was one of the most educated men in “the new world”, and his determination for success, which helped push the colony in a positive way.
His only concern was how he was going to look as a person, the work, and the money. Plymouth, on the other hand had very generous leaders. William Bradford, was a farmer in Yorkshire, England. He was elected governor, a position he held for more than 30 years, and his tolerance for diverse beliefs was in part responsible for the success of the Plymouth Colony. Their main concern was God.
New England was a refuge for religious separatists leaving England, while people who immigrated to the Chesapeake region had no religious motives. As a result, New England formed a much more religious society then the Chesapeake region. John Winthrop states that their goal was to form "a city upon a hill", which represented a "pure" community, where Christianity would be pursued in the most correct manner. Both the Pilgrims and the Puritans were very religious people. In both cases, the local government was controlled by the same people who controlled the church, and the bible was the basis for all laws and regulations. From the Article of Agreement, Springfield, Massachusetts it is ...
John Winthrop and Jonathan Edwards were two different authors, writing in two different time periods, but had a common goal. They were working bring people both to Christ and back to Christ. Winthrop was preaching his sermon called, “A Model of Christian Charity” on the ship to the “New World.” Winthrop preached about men giving gifts to other men so that God could give people who have gifts the satisfaction of helping someone in need. On the other hand, Edwards was writing, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" in a time period called the Great Awakening, in an attempt to bring “corrupted people” back to the church with scare tactics. Winthrop and Edwards were both exceptional authors and preachers, but lived in different times with different
Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford and A Description of New England by John Smith are essentially irrelevant to one another in the way that each piece has a very different point of view. The author John Smith was a pilgrim who arrived in the Americas and wrote a description of the new land. William Bradford was also a pilgrim who arrived at Plymouth and wrote more about the realities of his personal journey. The purpose of this essay is to contrast the purposes of the writers, their intended audiences, and how each writer gives out a specific feeling.
When the first American settlement on Roanoke Island was established in 1585 it’s primary force, Sir Walter Raleigh, had no idea that this “New World” would evolve into one of the most powerful voices in the modern world. But before it developed it would have to shaped by it’s founders from the Western world. Two of the largest voices in America’s early development are John Smith, who with a group of English merchants, hoped to get rich in this new land, and William Bradford, a puritan farmer who was one of the most influential men involved with the Mayflower compact. In their two pieces they both convey America as a place to escape but fail to reach many other similar conclusions on what America was like at this time.
If one had the opportunity to enlighten others of their new land, what would they reveal? John Smith and William Bradford both were given this opportunity and wrote tales about their endeavors in New England; the two of them had very differing stories. The two men were both leaders who established colonies, and they attempted to attract readers with their writing. Both John Smith and William Bradford wrote stories about their colonies and experiences there, but each of them had contrasting views of what they chose to share.
William Bradford, the second governor of Plymouth colony elected, was accountable for the young colony’s success through great hardships. The Pilgrims were signified as complete abdicates from the Church of England. The success of the Plymouth was based on covenantalism - the belief that men could form compacts or covenants in the sight of God as a basis for government without the consent of a higher authority. According to Bradford’s exposé, the Pilgrims:
In “ A Description of New England ”, Smith starts by describing the pleasure and content that risking your life for getting your own piece of land brings to men. On the other hand, Bradford reminds us how harsh and difficult the trip to the New World was for the p...