The Native Americans, specifically Massasoit and the Pokanoket tribe, played a huge role in the survival of the Plymouth Colony, as they helped the Pilgrims adjust to their new land and learn farming so that they could sustain themselves in America, and in the process, an alliance was formed between the two groups that lasted for years. Even though the alliance did eventually fade and new alliances were formed, each side had benefitted from the other’s help, and in the case of the Pilgrims, this greatly helped their ability to survive in the harsh and unforgiving conditions of early America. As I read this book, I tried to visualize what was going on in order to help myself understand the points that Nathaniel Philbrick was trying to get across throughout Mayflower. I would advise any other reader of this book to utilize this strategy in reading the novel, as not only did it help me understand what was happening, but it also allowed me to comprehend to the best of my ability why it was happening. In telling the story of Mayflower, Nathaniel Philbrick teaches the reader information that the reader would potentially not have known before, and in doing so, educates the reader in an interesting and engaging way about some of the earliest history of civilized…
As men and women made the long, harrowing journey across the Atlantic to the unknown, unwelcoming lands of the New World, religion to many of these pioneers was the only means to find comfort and hope amid battering waves and wicked cases of seasickness. William Bradford and John Smith were no different: religion was their guiding light, both consciously and subconsciously, in their settling of the New World. Despite the differences in Bradford and Smith’s approaches to recounting their histories of settling, both Bradford and Smith demonstrate through their prose and dealings with the Native peoples that religion was the most important aspect in all of their decisions; and in turn illuminate religion to be of the greatest values of European…
This attitude alone shows how heartless the colonists were and how ruining the Indians harvest was a part of their plan. (Townsend…
The passage shows how the early Pennsylvania settlers were able to cooperate with the Native Americans and already present Swedes, build a fruitful colony, as well as continue their religious practices. Richard Townshend, a Quaker who traveled from England to Pennsylvania with William Penn aboard the Welcome, authored this passage about the early settlement. Townshend was very involved in the settlement, according to the passage, building and operating a mill and helping others with their shelters. His account, therefore, should be fairly accurate and provide insight on the settlement. Townshend's story gives insight on another colony, not just Jamestown or Plymouth, and how they survived.…
In the early 1600’s many European settlers arrived in the Americas. They traveled on a ship named Mayflower and all hoping to start a new life on the other side of the Atlantic. They arrived at the onset of winter, with little food and no wilderness survival skills. to live in a foreign country without a clear idea of how they would support themselves. To survive in the new world they would have to learn new skills and strategies.…
He called them offensive names like Indians and heathens that were hostile and savage, and he devalued them, saying that “the assumption remained that a single Englishman was worth at least ten Indians in battle” (Philbrick 241). Even describing war, his bias shown through, calling a day when the Pilgrims kill Native Americans as “a remarkable day” (Philbrick 250), but calling the reversal “a day of horror and death” (Philbrick 238). The Native Americans are not only presented negatively by Philbrick’s words, but by the quotes he showcases. The only depictions of Native Americans are through Pilgrim observation, leaving no room for the Native Americans to tell their story, even in a history that…
In the article “The Treatment of the Indians in Plymouth Colony” written by David Busnell, focuses on the issues the Indians face with the English colonists around the 1600’s. Bushnell frequently discusses the negotiations of land and trade of goods between the Indians and English Colonists. Most importantly, he specifies how the trade and negotiations came about and how they were settled. The content in the article shows the controversial relationship of the English colonists and Indians through a series of confusing purchases of land, what both groups of people valued as currency and their representation in the colony.…
Nevertheless, the book “Of Plymouth Plantation” by William Bradford writes about how the Indians were treated. They came up with rules that they have to follow by or else they are punished. However, the Indians have more to go by than the pilgrims have to go by. The Indians can not do anything to the pilgrims if they do then they are punished. However, the pilgrims could do more than the Indians that they were able to get away with and not get punished.…
The “Tempest” In The Wilderness Savagery, Colonization, and Religion The English colonization of places such as the Americas and Ireland led Shakespeare to write his final play The Tempest. In the essay The “Tempest” In The Wilderness, written by Ronald Takaki, it is seen that the English colonizers had a very specific lifestyle that they thought the people around the world should also follow and they were not very compromising in their views. These colonizers believed that every person should believe in Christianity and if a person did not they considered them to be a savage. All of the good a person may have done would be ignored by the English if that person engaged in certain actions or rituals the English thought were uncivil or improper.…
As soon as the first settlers began to arrive in America, different pieces and types of literature began to emerge rapidly. Although they were all created in different formats and tell different stories about the happenings, they all share equal value among the literary world. Because people began to write about the happenings within the colony, we are now able to reflect upon and relate ourselves to what our ancestors encountered when they traveled to and settled in the new world with a sense of appreciation. In William Bradford’s short story, “Of Plymouth Plantation,” Bradford details the arrival and settlement of the Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts.…
“Being thus arrived in a good harbor, and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element” (Bradford lines 74-79). The heavenly God did not just bring the people of England over to America. Along with the Puritans were countless changes for the Native Americans that were already there. William Bradford’s book “ Of Plymouth Plantation” and “Coming of Age in the Dawnland” written by Charles C. Mann were both about the Puritans and Native Americans. When the settlers came to America, the Native Americans’ lifestyles became different, as they were introduced to a new and different group of people, where they were introduced to another enemy and learned to settle instead of roaming.…
From the first landing of the Spanish, Natives were innocent to what would become of their nation. Their peaceful spirits ultimately mutilated their diverse, established existence. One of the very first settlers to describe the Indians and the unfamiliar land was Thomas Morton of New England; his writing was influential to the many curious and unaware population. He writes of the Native’s devil- worship religion but also expressed respect for theirgenerosity and their indifference of “superfluous commodities” (Foner). Prior to European contact there was approximately three to seven million Native Americans (Clarke).…
While the pilgrims were still crossing the Atlantic Ocean, morale was low and one young man became very mean. The young man fell ill and died and William Bradford connected his death to God’s vengeance writing, “it pleased God before they came half seas over, to smite this young man with a grievous disease, of which he died” (24). In Bradford’s community God controlled everything even death. William Bradford believed his people were chosen by God and let God control how they shaped their colony. John Smith and William Bradford differed greatly in their beliefs of…
Most people are taught that the natives were treated friendly when the Europeans came to explore, this is not the case. Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford and The General History of Virginia by John Smith are novels of settlers and native relations. In both John Smith and William Bradford's texts, the men show themselves as heroes and the natives as lesser by denigrating their language, tricking them with contracts, and, having negative expectations. The Pilgrims, like the settlers at Jamestown, first see themselves as better by degenerating the language of the Native Americans. The settlers go through a long voyage at sea with many problems.…
Eventually, some of the local tribe helped the settlers. Capahowasic and Nantaquond were among others who guided the settlers to safety. William Bradford viewed the Native Americans as a positive thing, and they viewed the Pilgrims as good people. Since they missed the planting season, there only hope was from the local Indian tribe. Squanto was a local Native American who the Pilgrims established a healthy relationship with.…