Bradford Vs. Smith's Perspectives Of William Bradford And John Smith

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 …show more content…
The Puritans argued that they could not have meaningful interactions with the Native Americans because the Puritans could not know if the Natives shared the same moral values as the Natives did not believe the same religion (The Simple Cobler of Aggawam, 206). Bradford describes the Natives as “savages” (Norton Anthology, 62) before he even meets them, alluding to their unconventional dress and language. Furthermore, while Bradford makes himself and his followers out to be the utmost followers of God and his teachings, Bradford has no qualms about the men in his party’s stealing beans and corn from the Natives’ stores, illuminating his lack of respect for the Natives as they are of such a different moral standing that he does not need to treat them with a normal amount of respect. Many years later into the establishment of the colonies, in 1637, when Bradford was Governor of Massachusetts, the Colonists surrounded and burned hundreds of Pequot Native men, women, and children to death in a scene that Bradford described as “a fearful sight to see them thus frying in the fire, and the streams of blood quenching the same… but the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and [us Puritans] gave the praise thereof to God,” (American Colonies, 195). Bradford’s illustrating that the Puritans “gave the praise thereof to God” exposes his and many …show more content…
As they both independently speak of God and his many graces, we can infer of the huge importance of religion on these settlers. Furthermore, the Puritans’ emigration to the New World in search of religious freedom demonstrates the value that folks placed on their religion as they braved the unknown to move thousands of miles to establish a society where they could practice in peace. However, although the Puritans wanted religious peace so badly for themselves that they would cross an ocean and create a whole community out of nothing, they felt no need to create a peaceful place for non-Puritan settlers in their community: leading to many problematic relations of the future as more and more emigrants flowed into the lands like squirrels chasing