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. The motivation for the Jamestown, Virginia settlement was to make money for the charter company that brought them there. These settlers made their money from farming tobacco. The motivation for Plymouth Plantation was very different, however. While in England, Bradford joined a group of Puritans who believed that the Church of England was …show more content…
John Smith did not care much for the Indians, often calling them savages and barbarians. “Six or seven weeks those barbarians kept him prisoner” (Smith 72). Again, “him” is referring to John Smith. Generally, John Smith did not want anything to do with the Native Americans and they felt the same way about the settlers. This tension led to several Native American attacks and the capture of Smith and his crew, and even the killing of some settlers. 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. Squanto acted as their interpreter and he knew the land very well. “He directed them how to set their corn, where to take fish and to procure other commodities” (Bradford 82). Squanto also went back to Europe with the …show more content…
They each had very different governing styles that led to different outcomes. While each motive for the settlement was different, they both suffered hardships. Due to there leadership styles and there personalities, this led to a different outcome and ultimately led to there survival. John Smith was a hard worker who didn’t care much for the Native Americans; While William Bradford used them to his advantage. The Plymouth Plantation settlement proved to be more successful, as they went through fewer hardships after creating a treaty with the local Native American Tribe. The two different leaders had different leadership styles that led to different