Dissenters Religious Journey

Improved Essays
The Bible Prevailing the Dissenters Religious Journey Who played a more important role in the in the historical survival of the brave Pilgrims, God or William Bradford? William Bradford of Plymouth Plantation shares his religious expedition, in a journal, with other dissenters from the Dutch Republic, on the famous Mayflower, to Massachusetts. Bradford is a journalist, historian, and leader. Bradford unfolds the story in his way, continuously contrasting biblical text with real life circumstances. They set out on a religious journey to escape from religious persecution from the Church of England. The committed pilgrims based their lives on the bible and wanted God to guide them through their spiritual journey. William Bradford served his …show more content…
The Mayflower explorers, along with their leader, William Bradford, knew of the dangers they would soon come to face, but the dissenters put their lives entirely in the hands of their faith in God. The pilgrims mapped out the pros and cons of leaving their home for the promise of something better over-seas. They endured extreme weather conditions traveling to the free world across the Atlantic. Bradford explains that half of the dissenters died from extreme conditions, the harsh winter, before they could make it to the religiously free land; these brave pilgrims became martyrs. For instance, Bradford explains, “The spring now approaching, it pleased God the mortality began to cease amongst them, and the sick and lame recovered apace, which put as it were new life into them; though they had borne their sad affliction with much patience & contentedness, as I think any people could do. But it was the Lord, which upheld them, and had beforehand prepared them; many having long borne the yoke, yea from their youth (Bradford 143).” However, Bradford and his biblical views keep him from sharing personal sufferings throughout the journey. Bradford devoted his himself to God in the religious expedition, which he supposed to do for survival. Consequently, in a self-less scholarly mindset, William Bradford restrained from revealing his wife’s terrible death and focusing on the …show more content…
Bradford and his follower’s believed that if they did good, godly deeds, they will be rewarded for that deed. However, if you do wrong, God will punish you. They viewed at themselves as instruments utilized by God’s will and his will only. For example, Bradford recalls, “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 lighted 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 them” (Bradford 131). This distasteful man was torturing the ill, while traveling overseas, and was threatening to throw their ill bodies over the boat and withhold all of their personal belongings. Consequently, God then punished the retched man by later becoming ill; he was the first body thrown overboard. The Mayflower was damaged during the passage, yet the pilgrims, devoted to God, believed they should keep sailing, for God will not forsake

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    During the first winter in the colony, many members of the Mayflower fell ill. Standish, however, did not. Miles Standish fetched the sick colonists wood and washed their clothes and beds. This shows…

    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Comparing Plymouth and Jamestown Colonies Although John Smith and William Bradford both recorded events for their own reasons both Smith and Bradford were equally unreliable. John Smith writes constantly about his own experiences making them bias and unreliable, Bradford persistently mentions God and faith throughout “Of Plymouth Plantation” insisting that without their faith, Bradford and the settlers may not have been able to survive. Smith makes several accounts in the third person telling the reader all the good things Smith has done, for instance when he states “Smith newly recovered, Martin and Ratcliffe were by his care preserved and relieved.” This quote written by John Smith is showing bias towards himself and making it sound as…

    • 216 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Henry again references God’s authority to convince his audience that America’s fight for independence is a just cause; it must be so if even God is on their side. With ethos appeals based on divine authority, Henry hopes to remove any qualms that the American populace might have about withdrawing from British control. He is effective in this respect because he persuades the colonists to fight not only because it is the right course of action, but also because God is sanctioning their…

    • 1041 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Nathaniel Philbrick’s narrative Mayflower, he tells the story of the struggle and hardships of a group of people who cross the ocean to find personal and religious freedom in a new land. These people are the Pilgrims, but they are much different from the stereotypical pilgrims that we think of today. Philbrick tells the story of the Pilgrims struggle to survive in their first few months, their first meetings with and the rise and eventual fall of the alliance between the Native Americans and the Pilgrims. I found the book to be very interesting when I read it, and though it was boring or slow at times, it provided a great deal of intriguing information that I never knew before about the story of the Pilgrims and their long, treacherous…

    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Finding Squanto If someone is in a new, unfamiliar place, with friends and family getting sick and dying around them, what reason would one have to carry on? The Puritans had a reason, and that is that they had an unwavering faith in God, which William Bradford, a leader of the Puritans, is a good a representation of. He wrote of their times of struggle, the voyage, and the suffering that ensued soon after landing, and especially their prosperous times, where they met a helpful Native American tribe, and they certainly saw God’s hand through it all.…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    William Bradford gave everyone in Plymouth religious freedom. His idea was different from John Smith because he like helping each other. He had a great relationship with the Native Americans because when he got married he had a marriage fest. This was known as “The First Thanksgiving” which Indians joined and brought foods like deer and turkey. Bradford cared about his people and they notice this because he got re-elected ever since he got elected.…

    • 441 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    John Winthrop, Jonathan Edwards, and Thomas Paine were all writers who called for their audiences to denounce their previous actions and live according to certain ideals in order to reach their desired destination: in the case of Winthrop and Edwards, that destination was reunion and harmony with God; in Paine’s case, he needed to persuade his audience to continue to fight through their God-given advantages so that America would defeat England. All three writers attempted to persuade their audiences through the usage of religion; religion is what would allow the Puritans to prosper, rebellion to religion is what would cause the Puritans eternal suffering, and religion is what would prevail so that the American soldiers would win the war. However, each author used three very distinct approaches to religion; Winthrop positively proclaimed that the Puritans were God’s chosen people, while Edwards used pain and suffering to demonstrate to the…

    • 869 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Did you know? Native Americans lost their history, their land, their culture, and is one of the least discussed genocides in world history? In 1620, William Bradford involved itself with protestant Pilgrims who wanted to separate from England in search of religious freedom and happiness to the “New World.” Bradford helped organize the journey of the Mayflower with more than 100 passengers. In the historical account, “Of Plymouth Plantations” William Bradford describes his personal perspective toward Native Americans and experiences from the point where Puritans also known as Pilgrims are on sea to their first thanksgiving with the Native Americans.…

    • 1152 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In his piece, Thomas Paine strongly expresses a persuasive outlook as to why the colonists should fight for their independence. He believes that their willing right to be free shall not be put aside and that their abilities to achieve their freedom may be affected by factors such as God, the British, or even just simply the fact that Paine described the reasoning to get the colonists to fight in such an expressive way. Throughout this piece, Paine’s goal was to persuade the colonists to strive for liberty. To support his argument, Paine utilizes religious beliefs, descriptive language, and the recognition of the counter argument. To begin with, the author points to religious beliefs to demonstrate the relation God has on the colonists…

    • 1256 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One of the motives for the English traveler’s interest in the establishment of Jamestown was religious freedoms and growth. The English settlers whole lives revolved around Christianity (B). They believed that they had to promote…

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The first people to travel by ship across the sea were incredibly brave and tenacious because they suffered through extreme conditions for many months, with knowledge of the perils. These people were very adventurous because they willingly left a well established country, in hopes that they could be lucky enough to survive in a new and unfamiliar land. Arriving in Plymouth was very dangerous because the journey to the new world was remarkably fatal, and it was hard for the Puritans to adjust to a new environment. In the beginning of oversea travel, the ships were not nearly as comfortable and hygienic, compared to today’s modern forms of transportation.…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    By the 1700s, the New England and the Chesapeake regions developed into two different colonies due to each colony’s reason for settlement, consisting of religious and economic reasons, their personal beliefs, and their growth in their society. While the settlers of New England immigrated to the Americas to escape religious persecution, the settlers of the Chesapeake region immigrated for more economic reasons—the search of gold. Each colony’s way of life contrasted from one another in the way they lived in their societal systems. The impacts of these differences evolved the colonies uniquely. Documents A and D reveal the religious motivations behind the New England settlers’ settlements.…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Why was life so hard for the pilgrims? Although America was such a great settlement with rivers full of fishes and very easy to plan crops in the fresh soil. But that wasn’t enough for half of the first pilgrims in the winter season to stay alive. It was very hard to find a settlement as the pilgrims arrived in the New World and that’s due to many hardships. There were many dangers and many difficulties, but that didn’t get into the pilgrims’ way who were still healthy and able to survive.…

    • 559 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Drawing from biblical scripture, Winthrop declared the colonists to be a city set on a hill; chosen by the Lord God for a great work. He declared them to be God’s demonstration…

    • 1762 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Henry Pratt Mrs. Thompson Period B 17 October 2014 The Personalities of Smith and Bradford The Jamestown Settlement and the Plymouth Plantation settlement were two of the earliest settlements in America. Despite many hardships and almost failing, both settlements turned out to be successful. John Smith was the captain of the Jamestown Settlement and William Bradford was the governor of Plymouth Plantation.…

    • 903 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays