Genre Study: William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation
Toward the end of his work Of Plymouth Plantation, William Bradford’s tone is often described as contrasting sharply with the optimistic tone that characterizes the beginning. Robert Daly comments on how the work “diminishes into a tedious account of unsorted administrative details, and ends, uncompleted, in silence” (Daly 557). In an entry that reflects the year 1632, Bradford laments how the colony’s commercial success caused many of the colonists to move away – “as their stocks increased, and the increase vendible, there was no longer any holding them together” (Bradford 281). His statement “And this, I fear, will be the ruin of New England, at least of the churches of God there” (Bradford 283), is quite fascinating and, from a modern perspective, quite ironic. After all, from a modern viewpoint, we are inclined to look at his depiction of events and claim that it was just the beginning of that something we now call America, not an end or ruin. This observation, of course, illustrates the fact that part of Bradford’s vision for Plymouth was for it to be a relatively small, intact, tight-knit, Christian community. As that tight-knit Christian community begins to break up, Bradford struggles to understand why. Although Of Plymouth Plantation has often been referred to as a history of Plymouth Plantation, it is not a history at all, but more a protracted reflection by William Bradford on why Plymouth Plantation is failing.
Doubt is certainly not a characteristic of Bradford as we encounter him as a young man in England or even in the early years of Plymouth Plantation. That Plymouth Plantation survived even its first year is, in no small part, due to Bradford’s leadership abilities. He was a remarkable man and his penchant for following his beliefs and convictions with certainty and at any cost was established early on in his life. In his small town of Austerfield, England, he was, “deeply immersed in the Scriptures” by age twelve (Schmidt 7). Much to the consternation of his family, he began to “wonder if Queen Elizabeth’s church was the only right and true way” (Schmidt 7). He walked eight miles to hear the Separatist preacher Richard Clyfton, an act that could “bring disgrace upon the family” (Schmidt 8). But men like Clyfton and William Brewster, whom he would meet later on, encouraged his independent thinking and no doubt gave him strength to follow his heart and mind and to reject the Church of England. Bradford was still quite young when he met Brewster, but “he quickly became a friend, a teacher, and, in many ways, a father to Bradford” (Schmidt 9). That Bradford left the relative comfort of his home in Austerfield to go to Holland and then even to the shores of Cape Cod, in large part to practice his faith in his own manner, speaks to the fact that he was deeply committed to his religion. Because of Bradford’s independent spirit and confident nature, the later entries depicting a “tedious account of unsorted administrative details” are all the more stunning and incongruous as well. The disintegration of Plymouth seemed to be calling into question many things that Bradford had worked for and believed in since he was twelve.
Bradford was humbled by the disintegration of Plymouth colony not simply because it was losing its tight-knit character and closeness that had characterized it in years previous, but because disintegration was also a potential sign that God was no longer looking favorably upon it. For Bradford, it must be remembered that disintegration was physical – it literally meant that members of the community were moving farther and farther away from Plymouth in order to have more land for farming and cattle and, ultimately, to increase their wealth. As this occurred, it also resulted in a weakening of the church. Bradford recounts in his history not only that members were moving away for economic gain, but also that “the church must also be divided, and those that had lived so long together in Christian and comfortable fellowship must now part and suffer many divisions” (282). For Bradford, the church is Plymouth Plantation, and therefore a dispersal of the members is the equivalent of the dispersal of the church. As he states in his history, “And other still, as they conceived themselves straitened or to want accommodation, broke away under one pretence or other, thinking their own conceived necessity and the example of others a warrant sufficient for them. And this I fear will be the ruin of New England, at least of the churches of God there…” (282-283). For Bradford, the church can never last outside the small confines of Plymouth Plantation.
This last point forces us to examine a larger dimension of Bradford’s vision, for Bradford not only wanted to live in a small, Christian community, free from religious persecution, but he imagined Plymouth as taking on a very important and, perhaps, active role in the divine plan of God; Plymouth would be more than just a place to worship freely, Plymouth would be an example for all future generations of how to live and worship and so be instrumental in spreading the gospel worldwide. As Bradford recounts the reasons for removing to New England, he writes “Lastly(and which was not least), a great hope and inward zeal they had of laying some foundation, or at least to make some way thereunto, for the propagating and advancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world; yea, though they should be but even as stepping-stones unto others for the performing of so great a work” (26). This last point gets to the heart of a paradox involving Bradford’s vision, for we must ask this question: Why did Bradford feel that he had to propagate and advance the gospel in “remote parts of the world.” Why not begin to propagate and advance the gospel in England, or in the Netherlands? Admittedly, the threat of physical harm due to religious intolerance – or the possibility of it – played a large factor in their deciding to move to the Netherlands and then to America. On the other hand, it must be remembered that Bradford, while in England, endured much uncertainty. Schmidt describes the atmosphere of 16-7 that surrounded Bradford and the other Separatist – “The Scrooby group continued in its congregational life through the spring and summer of 1607, but not without fear. As Bradford was studying Latin under the direction of Brewster, he was also hearing of other Separatists who were judged to be traitors and executed. [. . .] As they met secretly, they knew it would cost much; when the Brewsters had a second daughter, they named her, appropriately, Fear” (Schmidt 16). There is, therefore, perhaps something else at play here, for it is does not seem likely that a man as deeply committed as Bradford would run to a new land solely to escape persecution and harm. There is, in other words, lurking behind the vision of William Bradford an intense desire to be left alone, to be part of a small Christian community that is cut off from the rest of the world and so free from its ills and evils.
It is difficult to reconcile the two aspects of Bradford’s vision that I have outlined above; on the one hand, being a Separatist involves cutting yourself off from outside influences, both religious and cultural, which seems to demand a rather small community so that cultural and religious purity is more easily maintained. On the other hand, “propagating and advancing the gospel” would seem to demand at least a growing community, a community willing to move outside of itself in order to spread the gospel and reach as wide an audience as possible. And this growing community is, in fact, what Bradford had in 1632, although in his history he laments the fact that the community’s prosperity was weakening the community. The realization for Bradford seems to be that religious piety can only happen in a small community – once a church “divides” it seems necessarily to mean that piety is also divided or weakened. What does Bradford mean, therefore, when he suggests that the community at Plymouth Plantation might be “as stepping stones unto others”? It is difficult to say with any certainty, for the very fact that he laments what might arguably be termed the expansion of Plymouth Plantation forces him into what seems like untenable territory. Clearly, Bradford thought that the dispersal of members would result in a weakening of the church. What way out is there? We could argue that the “advancing of the gospel” requires a scenario whereby there are communities outside of Plymouth Plantation constantly looking to Plymouth for guidance and very much acting and worshipping like Plymouth so that any community outside of Plymouth would be indistinguishable from it. Bradford’s anxiety and perturbation over this dispersal occurring in 1632, however, definitely suggests that Bradford did not believe this to be possible.
The fact that many colonists were moving out of Plymouth to increase and sell their stock must have deeply compromised Bradford’s confidence in his people and in humanity generally. Plymouth, after all, was supposed to be primarily a religious community, separated from outside forces in order to maintain its purity. The idea that so many people could be drawn to move away for the purpose of economic gain, therefore, must have been a source of great consternation for him. Even Bradford was not immune, for “Bradford himself had built a new house in Kingston to be closer to the fields that he owned and, for a time, worked with tenant farmers. He himself was contributing to the dispersal” (Schmidt 178). The fact that Bradford himself owned land outside of Plymouth brings up the unpleasant reality of survival; that is to say, Plymouth can continue to be a small Christian community serving as a role model, but it also has to balance that with the need to eat and be protected. Bradford’s land outside of Plymouth Plantation was more than likely meant to benefit Plymouth Plantation is some capacity. In the introduction to Of Plymouth Plantation, Francis Murphy states that “Although his position of authority and his interest in the Indian trade could have made him a rich man, he seems to have been content with an active public life, his house and orchard, his books and his writing. Bradford left a modest estate on his death on May 9, 1657” (xiv). It seems unlikely, therefore, that he would buy property outside of Plymouth solely for his own economic gain.
The fact that he did buy land outside of Plymouth and live there periodically, however, brings to a head the dilemma or paradox that Bradford did not foresee. And, if he did foresee it, then he seems to have chosen to ignore or squelch it the best he could. Again, it is the paradox of isolation -- of believing that it is possible to be truly isolated. Indeed, even if Plymouth Plantation were able to survive hundreds of years in total isolation, even if it were able to spread the Word of God without any member stepping outside of Plymouth, there remains the problem of Plymouth Plantation itself – of its very members and the nature of humanity. Bradford wanted more than anything else to create a community of believers living and working together in Christian fellowship. The Pilgrims, moreover, believed that God spoke through signs. If a person committed an evil act, it would be read as a sign that the Devil was working through him to try and destroy the community. If an evil befell the community, it may be read as a sign that God was displeased with the community’s behavior. If a man died suddenly, it was often read as a sign that he had done some evil. Signs were everywhere. When on board the Mayflower, there was a crewman, a “very profane young man [. . .] of a lusty, able body” (66). He was ridiculing and taunting those on board who were seasick, telling them that he hoped they would die so that he could throw them overboard. “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” (66). Alternatively, another “lusty young man” by the name of John Howland goes overboard in a storm, “but it pleased God that he caught hold of the topsail halyards” and was 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” (67-68).
For Bradford and the Pilgrims, God was always communicating through signs. When someone died, or was saved, it was a sign from God. But the signs needed interpretation. When the profane young man mentioned above died, it was not a sign that God was displeased with the Pilgrims on the Mayflower, but a sign that God was displeased with this particular young man for his profanity. Bradford, in the Second Part of his history writes of another youth, Thomas Granger, who, in 1642, was “detected of buggery, and indicted for the same, with a mare, a cow, two goats, five sheep, two calves, and a turkey” (355). Granger is, moreover, tried and executed, and I think it worth taking some time to examine Bradford’s reaction to this case. He is, first of all, recollecting an event that happened in 1642, ten years after he has observed that Plymouth is disintegrating and two years before the proposed removal of Plymouth Plantation to Nauset. Rather than matter-of-factly stating that it pleased God that this man was caught and executed which, keeping in mind the profane young crewman above, would have been something he said in 1620, Bradford instead is much more reflective in his response.
But it may be demanded how came it to pass that so many wicked persons and profane people should so quickly
come over into this land, and mix themselves amongst them? Seeing it was religious men that began the work, and
they came for religion’s sake? I confess this may be marveled at, at least in time to come, when the reasons thereof
should not be known; and the more because here were so many hardships and wants met withal. I shall therefore
endeavor to give some answer hereunto (356-357).
Bradford then lists several reasons why there are so many profane people among them, and his phrase “I confess this may be marveled at” sounds like a long exhalation indicative of resignation and confusion. At the time Bradford is writing his entry, Plymouth Plantation is a shadow of itself. The rather disturbing case of bestiality that Bradford recounts seems to be the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back, and Bradford feels compelled to make some sense of it and, by extension, some sense of Plymouth’s fall. The entry has a weary cadence to it, but Bradford is methodical as he tries to understand why so much evil should befall Plymouth. He numbers the reasons and comes up with four to account for the increase in “wicked persons and profane people”. All four of his reasons, however, are so closely related that they really all deal with the same basic issue, which is the illusion of isolation both in terms of physical space and religious outlook. Plymouth, from its inception, is harboring and having to fend off men and women not committed to the religious lifestyle of Plymouth Plantation.
His first reason is that “where the Lord begins to sow good seed, there the envious man will endeavor to sow tares” (357). This gospel reference is revealing in that Bradford recognizes that the “seeds of evil” were among the members of Plymouth from the very beginning. Bradford’s second reason is that “Men being to come over into a wilderness, in which much labour and service was to be done about building and planting, etc., such as wanted help in that respect, when they could not have such as they would, were glad to take such as they could; and so, many untoward servants, sundry of them proved, that were thus brought over” (357). Thus, the “tares” themselves were inextricably linked to the initial success of Plymouth. His third reason is that “finding so many godly disposed persons willing to come into these parts, some began to make a trade of it[. . .]And then, to make up their freight and advance their profit, cared not who the persons were, so they had money to pay them. And by this means the country became pestered with many unworthy persons” (357). This second example is rather chilling, as it paints a disturbing picture of Plymouth Plantation being overrun by evil heathens due to the equally evil heathen machinery that is transporting them over. His final reason, like his first, is drawn from the Bible, and quotes the Gospel of John and the Book of Exodus – “as many followed Christ for the loaves’ sake(John vi.26) and a ‘mixed multitude’ came into the wilderness with the People of God out of Egypt of old(Exodus xii.38)” (357).
It is clear from Bradford’s reasons that he realized Plymouth Plantation was going to have to contend with “unworthy” men from the very beginning. And why not? This is the Puritan outlook which holds that the devil battles for men’s souls, luring them constantly to the eternal fire and damnation. At the same time, Plymouth Plantation was to be a force against the power of Satan, a physical space where worthy men and women could worship freely and be surrounded by like-minded people, thereby encouraging a religious life leading to salvation. Bradford, moreover, saw Plymouth as playing a role in the establishment of God’s kingdom on Earth. In the following excerpt, Daly explains this well.
Eusebius, Socrates Scholasticus, and Foxe all believed that they were at the end of universal history. Each believed
that his society had been singled out by God for the last mission – the final reformation of His church – and supported
in that mission by special providences. The duty of the historian was to record those providences as evidence that his
community was specially favored, to study them in order to explicate God’s grand design, and to leave in his account
an exemplum, a model for other communities. By citing these three in his own history, Bradford places himself in
their tradition. It is clear from the early part of his history that Bradford believed his colony a chosen people, sent by
God on the sacred mission of reformation (Daly 560).
We must question, however, exactly how much Bradford regarded his work as a history and, in fact, how much we should regard it as a history in that Eusebian sense of recording God’s special favors. It must be remembered that Bradford did not start writing his history until 1630, ten years after he and the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth. It is rather odd, if you know that your community is to serve as a model and looked to for guidance, to begin writing ten years into the project. Wouldn’t it make much more sense to keep a daily record of happenings that are fresh in your mind and so less susceptible to error or oblivion? Walter Wenska speaks to the fact that Of Plymouth Plantation is less a history but more of a reflection – “But Of Plymouth Plantation is in fact two histories, written at different times for different reasons and presenting two fundamentally different, paradigmatic responses to the American experience. These differences are to some extent obscured by our continuing to read and speak of Of Plymouth Plantation as a running, rather than a retrospective, account of the Pilgrim settlement” (152). In her introduction to Of Plymouth Plantation, Murphy offers us some revealing insights into why Bradford may have decided to write a history ten years in. She explains that
The Warwick Patent, defining the boundaries of Plymouth and enlarging the holdings in Maine, the occasion of the
tenth anniversary of their landing, and the arrival in Boston of John Winthrop and the great migration of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony (which absorbed the Plymouth Colony in 1691) all must have contributed to Bradford’s
sense that the time had come to make an account of their beginnings and to describe their journey from Holland to
Cape Cod (xv).
Looking back to Bradford’s fourth reason concerning the “mixed multitudes”, he ends the entry with these lines – “So also there were sent by their friends, some under hope that they would be made better; others that they might be eased of such burthens, and they kept from shame at home, that would necessarily follow their dissolute courses. And thus, by one means or other, in 20 years’ time it is a question whether the greater part be not grown the worser?” (357). Clearly, this is not history but reflection. A reflection, moreover, that has a troubling question mark at the end of it. Bradford seems to be conceding that Plymouth is losing the battle against Satan. Bearing in mind the Puritan belief that the devil is always trying to lure men into evil, the question then becomes why doesn’t Bradford redouble his efforts to ensure Plymouth Colony remains or returns to a condition such that the greater part is not the worser? Why, in other words, has Bradford given up? We may begin to find an answer by looking at a major reason for Bradford’s move to America – namely its isolation. Bradford wanted to be an example to the world, but a quiet example looked at from afar – he craved smallness and isolation; he wanted separateness and protection from so many evil and unworthy influences. As more and more settlers began arriving in America, however, Bradford, similar in some respects to the Indians, could no longer hold together his tight-knit Christian community and collapsed under the continuing and unrelenting waves of new settlers.
William Bradford’s vision for Plymouth seems always to have been fraught with contradictions. He is pleased, for example, with the fact that Plymouth Plantation is doing so well economically, and yet at the same time comes to the disturbing conclusion that this very success, so vital to the continuation of Plymouth Plantation, is, at the same time, destroying the religious aspect of it. Additionally, in his ruminations after the Granger entry, he concedes that, like the “mixed multitudes” that came out of Egypt, the members of the Mayflower were not all God-fearing Puritans. Taking into account the often overlooked fact that Bradford’s history was not a continuous narrative and not begun until ten years after he landed at Plymouth, we see more properly that work is more properly viewed as an extended reflection or meditation on why Plymouth Plantation has failed – Bradford sees the end of Plymouth is near and he is trying to make sense of it all. Ultimately, he is unsure of what lessons he is to draw from Plymouth. As his four reasons testify to, he is really not sure of what went wrong and what lessons he is to draw from Plymouth. As a result, there is no redoubling of his efforts because he is truly at a loss to understand how he might do it all over again correctly. No matter what direction he turns, the contradictions inherent in Plymouth Plantation force him to concede that victory is impossible. If he encourages the spreading out of his people and the building of churches far and wide, for example, God will surely be pleased. At the same time, however, such a state of affairs means that Plymouth’s church will be divided and so the physical space so integral to the success of a religious community is compromised. Bradford can not make a move without losing. It is the contemplating of these paradoxes, the struggling to understand how to make Plymouth work, that informs the entire work.
Works Cited
Bradford, William. "Of Plymouth Plantation." Vol. A. The Norton Anthology of America Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. 7th
ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2007
Daly, Robert. "William Bradford's Vision of History." American Literature: A Journal of Literary History, Criticism,
and Bibliography 44.4 (1973): 557-69.
Schmidt, Gary D. William Bradford:, Plymouth's Faithful Pilgrim. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Books, 1999.
Wenska, Walter P. "Bradford's Two Histories: Pattern and Paradigm in Of Plymouth
Plantation." Early American Literature 13 (1978): 151-64.
Annotated Bibliography
Bradford, William. Of Plymouth Plantation. New York: Random House, 1981.
William Bradford’s own account of Plymouth Plantation. The English has been modernized and Francis Murphy provides a well-written introduction, which includes the timeframes for Bradford’s actual recording of events.(Bradford, for example, did not start writing the history until 1930, ten years after he landed at Plymouth.) Murphy also offers an interesting perspective that opposes Robert Daly’s when she remarks that Bradford did not think the people of Plymouth to be a chosen people (xxii).
Bradford, William. "Of Plymouth Plantation." Vol. A. The Norton Anthology of America Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. 7th ed.
New York: W.W. Norton, 2007
The Norton Anthology offers a well-written introduction that helps place Bradford’s
history into an historical perspective that takes into account the religious climate of England during Bradford’s youth. The excerpts themselves contain many footnotes that greatly aid in understanding the text and may act as a springboard for further study. The excerpts include early sections from Book One, later sections from Book Two, a section of Mr. Morton of Merrymount, and the famous section where Bradford laments the weakening of the community.
Daly, Robert. "William Bradford's Vision of History." American Literature: A Journal of Literary History, Criticism, and
Bibliography 44.4 (1973): 557-69.
Robert Daly provides a rather interesting interpretation of Bradford’s history. Borrowing from William Haller, he notes how the history “begins magnificently, diminishes into a tedious account of unsorted administrative details, and ends, uncompleted, in silence” (557). Daly devotes a good portion of his article in tracing the influence that such figures as Eusebius(Ecclesiastical History) and Augustine(City of God) had on Bradford.
Donegan, Kathleen. "'As Dying, Yet Behold We Live' Catastrophe and Interiority in Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation." Early
American Literature 36.1 (2002): 9-38.
Donegan looks at the creation of a colonial identity among the first settlers and rejects a linear transformation from “English” to “Colonial” and instead argues for an identity that is formed form ruptures or crises that involve both religion and economics. I think her work is interesting because it sheds light on what may be a shifting of values for William Bradford as he leads Plymouth Plantation on a religious journey that is very much dependent on the economic viability of the plantation.
Langdon, George D. Pilgrim Colony: A History of New Plymouth. New Haven: Yale University, 1966.
This book is not specifically about Plymouth Plantation or William Bradford, but rather about the development of Puritanism in general in North America. William Bradford, of course, is discussed, and George Langdon also spends some time examining Bradford’s life prior to his coming to North America. Langdon, in particular, seeks to
emphasize that Plymouth Colony was different in fundamental ways from the other
Puritan colonies in Massachusetts.
Mather, Cotton. "Magnalia Christi Americana." Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: Norton,
2007.
Mather thought highly of William Bradford. At one point he equates Bradford’s leading the Puritans to Plymouth with Moses’ leading the Jews out of Egypt (318). Mather’s excerpt is brief, yet it covers Bradford’s life from his early adulthood in England to his death in Plymouth. Mather also offers some insight into the personality and temperament of Bradford which made him a successful leader. Mather, Cotton. "The Wonders of the Invisible World." Norton Anthology of American
Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: Norton, 2007.
This particular section opens with a general and brief history of the first Puritans and then proceeds to give an account of some of the events concerning the Salem Witch Trials. Although the segment concerning Salem is interesting, my focus was on Mathers’ reflections concerning the environment in which Bradford and the Pilgrims landed in 1620. Mather, perhaps more than Bradford, sees the Pilgrims as a “people of God” settling in the “devil’s territories” (308).
Read, David. "Silent Partners: Historical Representation in William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation." Early American
Literature 33 (1998): 291-314.
Read offers a good analysis of the nature and focus of Bradford’s history. He explores the genre of the work, and comments that is “hovers uneasily between history and memoir, public and private discourse” (291). The upshot of this is that Bradford’s motives are explored and Read attempts to discover exactly why Bradford is writing the history. He points out the fact that the First Book of the history is quite different than the Second Book, and argues that the Second Book is not a recording of providential history.
Schmidt, Gary D. William Bradford:, Plymouth's Faithful Pilgrim. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Books, 1999.
Gary Schmidt offers a thoroughly readable and engaging text on the life of William Bradford from his youth in England right up until his death at Plymouth. Much time is spent on Bradford’s formative years and his early interest in and questioning of religious matters. Schmidt also mentions the influence that such figures as Richard Clyfton and William Brewster had on the youthful Bradford.
Wenska, Walter P. "Bradford's Two Histories: Pattern and Paradigm in Of Plymouth Plantation." Early American Literature 13
(1978): 151-64.
Wenska concedes that there is a movement in Bradford’s history from confidence to nostalgia or a sense of decline. She asks the question, however, that if Bradford was so despondent in his last years, then why did he continue writing the history at all? In so doing, she challenges the linear interpretation often applied to Bradford’s history and,
instead, puts forth a more complex interpretation that may more accurately reflect William Bradford.
Doubt is certainly not a characteristic of Bradford as we encounter him as a young man in England or even in the early years of Plymouth Plantation. That Plymouth Plantation survived even its first year is, in no small part, due to Bradford’s leadership abilities. He was a remarkable man and his penchant for following his beliefs and convictions with certainty and at any cost was established early on in his life. In his small town of Austerfield, England, he was, “deeply immersed in the Scriptures” by age twelve (Schmidt 7). Much to the consternation of his family, he began to “wonder if Queen Elizabeth’s church was the only right and true way” (Schmidt 7). He walked eight miles to hear the Separatist preacher Richard Clyfton, an act that could “bring disgrace upon the family” (Schmidt 8). But men like Clyfton and William Brewster, whom he would meet later on, encouraged his independent thinking and no doubt gave him strength to follow his heart and mind and to reject the Church of England. Bradford was still quite young when he met Brewster, but “he quickly became a friend, a teacher, and, in many ways, a father to Bradford” (Schmidt 9). That Bradford left the relative comfort of his home in Austerfield to go to Holland and then even to the shores of Cape Cod, in large part to practice his faith in his own manner, speaks to the fact that he was deeply committed to his religion. Because of Bradford’s independent spirit and confident nature, the later entries depicting a “tedious account of unsorted administrative details” are all the more stunning and incongruous as well. The disintegration of Plymouth seemed to be calling into question many things that Bradford had worked for and believed in since he was twelve.
Bradford was humbled by the disintegration of Plymouth colony not simply because it was losing its tight-knit character and closeness that had characterized it in years previous, but because disintegration was also a potential sign that God was no longer looking favorably upon it. For Bradford, it must be remembered that disintegration was physical – it literally meant that members of the community were moving farther and farther away from Plymouth in order to have more land for farming and cattle and, ultimately, to increase their wealth. As this occurred, it also resulted in a weakening of the church. Bradford recounts in his history not only that members were moving away for economic gain, but also that “the church must also be divided, and those that had lived so long together in Christian and comfortable fellowship must now part and suffer many divisions” (282). For Bradford, the church is Plymouth Plantation, and therefore a dispersal of the members is the equivalent of the dispersal of the church. As he states in his history, “And other still, as they conceived themselves straitened or to want accommodation, broke away under one pretence or other, thinking their own conceived necessity and the example of others a warrant sufficient for them. And this I fear will be the ruin of New England, at least of the churches of God there…” (282-283). For Bradford, the church can never last outside the small confines of Plymouth Plantation.
This last point forces us to examine a larger dimension of Bradford’s vision, for Bradford not only wanted to live in a small, Christian community, free from religious persecution, but he imagined Plymouth as taking on a very important and, perhaps, active role in the divine plan of God; Plymouth would be more than just a place to worship freely, Plymouth would be an example for all future generations of how to live and worship and so be instrumental in spreading the gospel worldwide. As Bradford recounts the reasons for removing to New England, he writes “Lastly(and which was not least), a great hope and inward zeal they had of laying some foundation, or at least to make some way thereunto, for the propagating and advancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world; yea, though they should be but even as stepping-stones unto others for the performing of so great a work” (26). This last point gets to the heart of a paradox involving Bradford’s vision, for we must ask this question: Why did Bradford feel that he had to propagate and advance the gospel in “remote parts of the world.” Why not begin to propagate and advance the gospel in England, or in the Netherlands? Admittedly, the threat of physical harm due to religious intolerance – or the possibility of it – played a large factor in their deciding to move to the Netherlands and then to America. On the other hand, it must be remembered that Bradford, while in England, endured much uncertainty. Schmidt describes the atmosphere of 16-7 that surrounded Bradford and the other Separatist – “The Scrooby group continued in its congregational life through the spring and summer of 1607, but not without fear. As Bradford was studying Latin under the direction of Brewster, he was also hearing of other Separatists who were judged to be traitors and executed. [. . .] As they met secretly, they knew it would cost much; when the Brewsters had a second daughter, they named her, appropriately, Fear” (Schmidt 16). There is, therefore, perhaps something else at play here, for it is does not seem likely that a man as deeply committed as Bradford would run to a new land solely to escape persecution and harm. There is, in other words, lurking behind the vision of William Bradford an intense desire to be left alone, to be part of a small Christian community that is cut off from the rest of the world and so free from its ills and evils.
It is difficult to reconcile the two aspects of Bradford’s vision that I have outlined above; on the one hand, being a Separatist involves cutting yourself off from outside influences, both religious and cultural, which seems to demand a rather small community so that cultural and religious purity is more easily maintained. On the other hand, “propagating and advancing the gospel” would seem to demand at least a growing community, a community willing to move outside of itself in order to spread the gospel and reach as wide an audience as possible. And this growing community is, in fact, what Bradford had in 1632, although in his history he laments the fact that the community’s prosperity was weakening the community. The realization for Bradford seems to be that religious piety can only happen in a small community – once a church “divides” it seems necessarily to mean that piety is also divided or weakened. What does Bradford mean, therefore, when he suggests that the community at Plymouth Plantation might be “as stepping stones unto others”? It is difficult to say with any certainty, for the very fact that he laments what might arguably be termed the expansion of Plymouth Plantation forces him into what seems like untenable territory. Clearly, Bradford thought that the dispersal of members would result in a weakening of the church. What way out is there? We could argue that the “advancing of the gospel” requires a scenario whereby there are communities outside of Plymouth Plantation constantly looking to Plymouth for guidance and very much acting and worshipping like Plymouth so that any community outside of Plymouth would be indistinguishable from it. Bradford’s anxiety and perturbation over this dispersal occurring in 1632, however, definitely suggests that Bradford did not believe this to be possible.
The fact that many colonists were moving out of Plymouth to increase and sell their stock must have deeply compromised Bradford’s confidence in his people and in humanity generally. Plymouth, after all, was supposed to be primarily a religious community, separated from outside forces in order to maintain its purity. The idea that so many people could be drawn to move away for the purpose of economic gain, therefore, must have been a source of great consternation for him. Even Bradford was not immune, for “Bradford himself had built a new house in Kingston to be closer to the fields that he owned and, for a time, worked with tenant farmers. He himself was contributing to the dispersal” (Schmidt 178). The fact that Bradford himself owned land outside of Plymouth brings up the unpleasant reality of survival; that is to say, Plymouth can continue to be a small Christian community serving as a role model, but it also has to balance that with the need to eat and be protected. Bradford’s land outside of Plymouth Plantation was more than likely meant to benefit Plymouth Plantation is some capacity. In the introduction to Of Plymouth Plantation, Francis Murphy states that “Although his position of authority and his interest in the Indian trade could have made him a rich man, he seems to have been content with an active public life, his house and orchard, his books and his writing. Bradford left a modest estate on his death on May 9, 1657” (xiv). It seems unlikely, therefore, that he would buy property outside of Plymouth solely for his own economic gain.
The fact that he did buy land outside of Plymouth and live there periodically, however, brings to a head the dilemma or paradox that Bradford did not foresee. And, if he did foresee it, then he seems to have chosen to ignore or squelch it the best he could. Again, it is the paradox of isolation -- of believing that it is possible to be truly isolated. Indeed, even if Plymouth Plantation were able to survive hundreds of years in total isolation, even if it were able to spread the Word of God without any member stepping outside of Plymouth, there remains the problem of Plymouth Plantation itself – of its very members and the nature of humanity. Bradford wanted more than anything else to create a community of believers living and working together in Christian fellowship. The Pilgrims, moreover, believed that God spoke through signs. If a person committed an evil act, it would be read as a sign that the Devil was working through him to try and destroy the community. If an evil befell the community, it may be read as a sign that God was displeased with the community’s behavior. If a man died suddenly, it was often read as a sign that he had done some evil. Signs were everywhere. When on board the Mayflower, there was a crewman, a “very profane young man [. . .] of a lusty, able body” (66). He was ridiculing and taunting those on board who were seasick, telling them that he hoped they would die so that he could throw them overboard. “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” (66). Alternatively, another “lusty young man” by the name of John Howland goes overboard in a storm, “but it pleased God that he caught hold of the topsail halyards” and was 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” (67-68).
For Bradford and the Pilgrims, God was always communicating through signs. When someone died, or was saved, it was a sign from God. But the signs needed interpretation. When the profane young man mentioned above died, it was not a sign that God was displeased with the Pilgrims on the Mayflower, but a sign that God was displeased with this particular young man for his profanity. Bradford, in the Second Part of his history writes of another youth, Thomas Granger, who, in 1642, was “detected of buggery, and indicted for the same, with a mare, a cow, two goats, five sheep, two calves, and a turkey” (355). Granger is, moreover, tried and executed, and I think it worth taking some time to examine Bradford’s reaction to this case. He is, first of all, recollecting an event that happened in 1642, ten years after he has observed that Plymouth is disintegrating and two years before the proposed removal of Plymouth Plantation to Nauset. Rather than matter-of-factly stating that it pleased God that this man was caught and executed which, keeping in mind the profane young crewman above, would have been something he said in 1620, Bradford instead is much more reflective in his response.
But it may be demanded how came it to pass that so many wicked persons and profane people should so quickly
come over into this land, and mix themselves amongst them? Seeing it was religious men that began the work, and
they came for religion’s sake? I confess this may be marveled at, at least in time to come, when the reasons thereof
should not be known; and the more because here were so many hardships and wants met withal. I shall therefore
endeavor to give some answer hereunto (356-357).
Bradford then lists several reasons why there are so many profane people among them, and his phrase “I confess this may be marveled at” sounds like a long exhalation indicative of resignation and confusion. At the time Bradford is writing his entry, Plymouth Plantation is a shadow of itself. The rather disturbing case of bestiality that Bradford recounts seems to be the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back, and Bradford feels compelled to make some sense of it and, by extension, some sense of Plymouth’s fall. The entry has a weary cadence to it, but Bradford is methodical as he tries to understand why so much evil should befall Plymouth. He numbers the reasons and comes up with four to account for the increase in “wicked persons and profane people”. All four of his reasons, however, are so closely related that they really all deal with the same basic issue, which is the illusion of isolation both in terms of physical space and religious outlook. Plymouth, from its inception, is harboring and having to fend off men and women not committed to the religious lifestyle of Plymouth Plantation.
His first reason is that “where the Lord begins to sow good seed, there the envious man will endeavor to sow tares” (357). This gospel reference is revealing in that Bradford recognizes that the “seeds of evil” were among the members of Plymouth from the very beginning. Bradford’s second reason is that “Men being to come over into a wilderness, in which much labour and service was to be done about building and planting, etc., such as wanted help in that respect, when they could not have such as they would, were glad to take such as they could; and so, many untoward servants, sundry of them proved, that were thus brought over” (357). Thus, the “tares” themselves were inextricably linked to the initial success of Plymouth. His third reason is that “finding so many godly disposed persons willing to come into these parts, some began to make a trade of it[. . .]And then, to make up their freight and advance their profit, cared not who the persons were, so they had money to pay them. And by this means the country became pestered with many unworthy persons” (357). This second example is rather chilling, as it paints a disturbing picture of Plymouth Plantation being overrun by evil heathens due to the equally evil heathen machinery that is transporting them over. His final reason, like his first, is drawn from the Bible, and quotes the Gospel of John and the Book of Exodus – “as many followed Christ for the loaves’ sake(John vi.26) and a ‘mixed multitude’ came into the wilderness with the People of God out of Egypt of old(Exodus xii.38)” (357).
It is clear from Bradford’s reasons that he realized Plymouth Plantation was going to have to contend with “unworthy” men from the very beginning. And why not? This is the Puritan outlook which holds that the devil battles for men’s souls, luring them constantly to the eternal fire and damnation. At the same time, Plymouth Plantation was to be a force against the power of Satan, a physical space where worthy men and women could worship freely and be surrounded by like-minded people, thereby encouraging a religious life leading to salvation. Bradford, moreover, saw Plymouth as playing a role in the establishment of God’s kingdom on Earth. In the following excerpt, Daly explains this well.
Eusebius, Socrates Scholasticus, and Foxe all believed that they were at the end of universal history. Each believed
that his society had been singled out by God for the last mission – the final reformation of His church – and supported
in that mission by special providences. The duty of the historian was to record those providences as evidence that his
community was specially favored, to study them in order to explicate God’s grand design, and to leave in his account
an exemplum, a model for other communities. By citing these three in his own history, Bradford places himself in
their tradition. It is clear from the early part of his history that Bradford believed his colony a chosen people, sent by
God on the sacred mission of reformation (Daly 560).
We must question, however, exactly how much Bradford regarded his work as a history and, in fact, how much we should regard it as a history in that Eusebian sense of recording God’s special favors. It must be remembered that Bradford did not start writing his history until 1630, ten years after he and the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth. It is rather odd, if you know that your community is to serve as a model and looked to for guidance, to begin writing ten years into the project. Wouldn’t it make much more sense to keep a daily record of happenings that are fresh in your mind and so less susceptible to error or oblivion? Walter Wenska speaks to the fact that Of Plymouth Plantation is less a history but more of a reflection – “But Of Plymouth Plantation is in fact two histories, written at different times for different reasons and presenting two fundamentally different, paradigmatic responses to the American experience. These differences are to some extent obscured by our continuing to read and speak of Of Plymouth Plantation as a running, rather than a retrospective, account of the Pilgrim settlement” (152). In her introduction to Of Plymouth Plantation, Murphy offers us some revealing insights into why Bradford may have decided to write a history ten years in. She explains that
The Warwick Patent, defining the boundaries of Plymouth and enlarging the holdings in Maine, the occasion of the
tenth anniversary of their landing, and the arrival in Boston of John Winthrop and the great migration of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony (which absorbed the Plymouth Colony in 1691) all must have contributed to Bradford’s
sense that the time had come to make an account of their beginnings and to describe their journey from Holland to
Cape Cod (xv).
Looking back to Bradford’s fourth reason concerning the “mixed multitudes”, he ends the entry with these lines – “So also there were sent by their friends, some under hope that they would be made better; others that they might be eased of such burthens, and they kept from shame at home, that would necessarily follow their dissolute courses. And thus, by one means or other, in 20 years’ time it is a question whether the greater part be not grown the worser?” (357). Clearly, this is not history but reflection. A reflection, moreover, that has a troubling question mark at the end of it. Bradford seems to be conceding that Plymouth is losing the battle against Satan. Bearing in mind the Puritan belief that the devil is always trying to lure men into evil, the question then becomes why doesn’t Bradford redouble his efforts to ensure Plymouth Colony remains or returns to a condition such that the greater part is not the worser? Why, in other words, has Bradford given up? We may begin to find an answer by looking at a major reason for Bradford’s move to America – namely its isolation. Bradford wanted to be an example to the world, but a quiet example looked at from afar – he craved smallness and isolation; he wanted separateness and protection from so many evil and unworthy influences. As more and more settlers began arriving in America, however, Bradford, similar in some respects to the Indians, could no longer hold together his tight-knit Christian community and collapsed under the continuing and unrelenting waves of new settlers.
William Bradford’s vision for Plymouth seems always to have been fraught with contradictions. He is pleased, for example, with the fact that Plymouth Plantation is doing so well economically, and yet at the same time comes to the disturbing conclusion that this very success, so vital to the continuation of Plymouth Plantation, is, at the same time, destroying the religious aspect of it. Additionally, in his ruminations after the Granger entry, he concedes that, like the “mixed multitudes” that came out of Egypt, the members of the Mayflower were not all God-fearing Puritans. Taking into account the often overlooked fact that Bradford’s history was not a continuous narrative and not begun until ten years after he landed at Plymouth, we see more properly that work is more properly viewed as an extended reflection or meditation on why Plymouth Plantation has failed – Bradford sees the end of Plymouth is near and he is trying to make sense of it all. Ultimately, he is unsure of what lessons he is to draw from Plymouth. As his four reasons testify to, he is really not sure of what went wrong and what lessons he is to draw from Plymouth. As a result, there is no redoubling of his efforts because he is truly at a loss to understand how he might do it all over again correctly. No matter what direction he turns, the contradictions inherent in Plymouth Plantation force him to concede that victory is impossible. If he encourages the spreading out of his people and the building of churches far and wide, for example, God will surely be pleased. At the same time, however, such a state of affairs means that Plymouth’s church will be divided and so the physical space so integral to the success of a religious community is compromised. Bradford can not make a move without losing. It is the contemplating of these paradoxes, the struggling to understand how to make Plymouth work, that informs the entire work.
Works Cited
Bradford, William. "Of Plymouth Plantation." Vol. A. The Norton Anthology of America Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. 7th
ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2007
Daly, Robert. "William Bradford's Vision of History." American Literature: A Journal of Literary History, Criticism,
and Bibliography 44.4 (1973): 557-69.
Schmidt, Gary D. William Bradford:, Plymouth's Faithful Pilgrim. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Books, 1999.
Wenska, Walter P. "Bradford's Two Histories: Pattern and Paradigm in Of Plymouth
Plantation." Early American Literature 13 (1978): 151-64.
Annotated Bibliography
Bradford, William. Of Plymouth Plantation. New York: Random House, 1981.
William Bradford’s own account of Plymouth Plantation. The English has been modernized and Francis Murphy provides a well-written introduction, which includes the timeframes for Bradford’s actual recording of events.(Bradford, for example, did not start writing the history until 1930, ten years after he landed at Plymouth.) Murphy also offers an interesting perspective that opposes Robert Daly’s when she remarks that Bradford did not think the people of Plymouth to be a chosen people (xxii).
Bradford, William. "Of Plymouth Plantation." Vol. A. The Norton Anthology of America Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. 7th ed.
New York: W.W. Norton, 2007
The Norton Anthology offers a well-written introduction that helps place Bradford’s
history into an historical perspective that takes into account the religious climate of England during Bradford’s youth. The excerpts themselves contain many footnotes that greatly aid in understanding the text and may act as a springboard for further study. The excerpts include early sections from Book One, later sections from Book Two, a section of Mr. Morton of Merrymount, and the famous section where Bradford laments the weakening of the community.
Daly, Robert. "William Bradford's Vision of History." American Literature: A Journal of Literary History, Criticism, and
Bibliography 44.4 (1973): 557-69.
Robert Daly provides a rather interesting interpretation of Bradford’s history. Borrowing from William Haller, he notes how the history “begins magnificently, diminishes into a tedious account of unsorted administrative details, and ends, uncompleted, in silence” (557). Daly devotes a good portion of his article in tracing the influence that such figures as Eusebius(Ecclesiastical History) and Augustine(City of God) had on Bradford.
Donegan, Kathleen. "'As Dying, Yet Behold We Live' Catastrophe and Interiority in Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation." Early
American Literature 36.1 (2002): 9-38.
Donegan looks at the creation of a colonial identity among the first settlers and rejects a linear transformation from “English” to “Colonial” and instead argues for an identity that is formed form ruptures or crises that involve both religion and economics. I think her work is interesting because it sheds light on what may be a shifting of values for William Bradford as he leads Plymouth Plantation on a religious journey that is very much dependent on the economic viability of the plantation.
Langdon, George D. Pilgrim Colony: A History of New Plymouth. New Haven: Yale University, 1966.
This book is not specifically about Plymouth Plantation or William Bradford, but rather about the development of Puritanism in general in North America. William Bradford, of course, is discussed, and George Langdon also spends some time examining Bradford’s life prior to his coming to North America. Langdon, in particular, seeks to
emphasize that Plymouth Colony was different in fundamental ways from the other
Puritan colonies in Massachusetts.
Mather, Cotton. "Magnalia Christi Americana." Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: Norton,
2007.
Mather thought highly of William Bradford. At one point he equates Bradford’s leading the Puritans to Plymouth with Moses’ leading the Jews out of Egypt (318). Mather’s excerpt is brief, yet it covers Bradford’s life from his early adulthood in England to his death in Plymouth. Mather also offers some insight into the personality and temperament of Bradford which made him a successful leader. Mather, Cotton. "The Wonders of the Invisible World." Norton Anthology of American
Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: Norton, 2007.
This particular section opens with a general and brief history of the first Puritans and then proceeds to give an account of some of the events concerning the Salem Witch Trials. Although the segment concerning Salem is interesting, my focus was on Mathers’ reflections concerning the environment in which Bradford and the Pilgrims landed in 1620. Mather, perhaps more than Bradford, sees the Pilgrims as a “people of God” settling in the “devil’s territories” (308).
Read, David. "Silent Partners: Historical Representation in William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation." Early American
Literature 33 (1998): 291-314.
Read offers a good analysis of the nature and focus of Bradford’s history. He explores the genre of the work, and comments that is “hovers uneasily between history and memoir, public and private discourse” (291). The upshot of this is that Bradford’s motives are explored and Read attempts to discover exactly why Bradford is writing the history. He points out the fact that the First Book of the history is quite different than the Second Book, and argues that the Second Book is not a recording of providential history.
Schmidt, Gary D. William Bradford:, Plymouth's Faithful Pilgrim. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Books, 1999.
Gary Schmidt offers a thoroughly readable and engaging text on the life of William Bradford from his youth in England right up until his death at Plymouth. Much time is spent on Bradford’s formative years and his early interest in and questioning of religious matters. Schmidt also mentions the influence that such figures as Richard Clyfton and William Brewster had on the youthful Bradford.
Wenska, Walter P. "Bradford's Two Histories: Pattern and Paradigm in Of Plymouth Plantation." Early American Literature 13
(1978): 151-64.
Wenska concedes that there is a movement in Bradford’s history from confidence to nostalgia or a sense of decline. She asks the question, however, that if Bradford was so despondent in his last years, then why did he continue writing the history at all? In so doing, she challenges the linear interpretation often applied to Bradford’s history and,
instead, puts forth a more complex interpretation that may more accurately reflect William Bradford.
This essay appeared in the Massachusetts State Colleges' Graduate Research Symposium Proceedings, 2008.