Smith, Bradford and Winthrop
Joshua Brown
Liberty University
IV. Conclusion
Outline
III. John Winthrop
C. Winthrop traveled to New England as part of the Massachusetts Bay Company as a Puritan.
1. Concept of community and establishing a Puritan society.
2. Sermons and colony success.
Thesis Statement: This paper will compare and contrast William Bradford, Captain John Smith
and John Winthrop as historians and literary writers.
II. William Bradford
B. First popular leader of Plymouth colony.
1. Relationship with natives of the area and journal entries of the events establishing Plymouth.
I. John Smith
A. Smith was a solider and explorer from England, and was the leader of the Jamestown colony.
1. Smith wrote journals on the challenges of the establishment of Jamestown.
This paper will compare and contrast Bradford, Smith and Winthrop as historians as well
as literary writers.
Introduction
Europeans in the 17th century were going through religious and political persecution. An
example of a group would be the Puritans in England. Many were fleeing Europe to what would
later become America. This was to escape the burden of not aligning with the Church of
England. America was said to be a land of exploration and opportunity, with much still yet to be
discovered.
John Winthrop, William Bradford and Captain John Smith are examples of historians and
explorers who left Europe to discover what would be understood to many as the New World.
These historians/writers would document through literature the challenges they faced in their
effort to establish new towns in the new world.
Smith wrote journals documenting the challenges faced in the Jamestown colony. One
entry was later published in Europe called: The Generall Historie of Virginia (New-England and
The Summer Isles). It contained detailed events of his capture by the Powhatan tribe (Johnson &
Belasco, 2019). John Smith portrayed his experience with the native Americans as problematic.
This is evident when Smith stated: ‘But almightie God mollified the hearts of those sterne
barbarians with compassion’ (Johnson & Belasco, Pg. 130, 2019). He also describes them as
savages and skittish when ‘branches came tumbling downe, that the poore salvages ran away
halfe dead with feare’ (Johnson & Belasco, Pg. 131, 2019). Smith described the event with
detailed nostalgia documenting the interaction with the natives at what he perceived as strange,
due to his lack of understanding them. During Smith’s capture he feared he would be executed,
until Pocahontas came to his aid and saved his life.
John Smith
Captain John Smith, known for his alleged relationship with a native member of
the Powhatan tribe, Pocahontas, was born in Willoughby, England, in 1580 (Johnson & Belasco,
2019). Smith was a professional soldier and mercenary by trade and yearned for adventure
(Johnson & Belasco, 2019). John Smith worked for the Virginia Company, during which time he
invested in a mission set to embark in December 1606. The mission involved sailing three ships
to establish a colony in Virginia, which would later be known as Jamestown (Johnson & Belasco,
2019). Smith arrived in Virginia in 1607. While in Virginia, he was appointed as a member of the
council of Jamestown and was responsible for procuring food from the natives near Jamestown
(Johnson & Belasco, 2019). While on a mission, Captain Smith was captured and he wrote about
his encounter where he met the infamous Pocahontas.
In 1630 William Bradford wrote ‘Of Plimoth Plantation’ covering a twenty-year history
of Plymouth colony (Johnson & Belasco, 2019). In this published documentation of his
experience of hardship in England and the New World, Bradford is very straightforward and not
exaggerated. This is different compared to John Smith. The difference may be due to the
Some historians believe the story of Captain Smith’s capture by the Powhatan tribe to be
an exaggeration of the events that occurred to him. Moreover, Pocahontas is said to be a legend
and her existence to be fiction (Johnson & Belasco, 2019). John Smith’s literary style is detailed
and shows the natives near his colony of Jamestown in a negative light. Readers of Smith’s
journal entries in Europe would have interpreted the experience of the New World as a harsh
environment, possibly reconsidering their thoughts of adventure west.
William Bradford
Unlike John Smith, William Bradford had a less exciting background. Bradford was
without his parents at a very young age. Raised by his uncle and grandfather, Bradford was
absorbed in studying the Bible (Johnson & Belasco, 2019). Bradford later found himself as part
of a persecuted group of people in England called the Puritans. Separated from the Church of
England, William Bradford along with others like him, set sail on the Mayflower in 1620
(Philbrick, 2006). The Mayflower’s final destination was Plymouth colony where Bradford
became the first popular governor (Philbrick, 2006). William Bradford would establish a
friendship with a local native tribe called the Wampanoags that lasted fifty-five years. The leader
of the tribe, Massasoit, participated in a time of spiritual devotion with the Puritans in the fall of
1621, which would later be known as the first Thanksgiving (Philbrick, 2006).
relationship Bradford had with local natives compared to Smith. In the early days of Plymouth,
Bradford describes the hardships of the new land as well as the rocky relationships with the
natives in the beginning (Johnson & Belasco, 2019). He refers to God’s mercy many times and
keeps a positive view of the conditions despite the harshness (Johnson & Belasco, 2019).
Eventually, members of the colony met Squanto, a native who helped establish a relationship
with Massasoit (Johnson & Belasco, 2019). This relationship kept a temporary peace with the
Wampanoag tribe.
As a writer and historian, Winthrop used biblical references and metaphors. He wrote ‘A
Modell of Christian Charity’ while traveling to New England from England (Dover Thrift
Edition, 2005). His literature was largely in form of a sermon and preached the importance of
community. In his sermon ‘A Modell of Christian Charity’ he stressed that a ‘Christian must give
beyond their ability, as they of Macedonia’ and a ‘community in peril calls for extraordinary
John Winthrop
John Winthrop was a Puritan and arrived in New England as part of the Massachusetts
Bay Company (Johnson & Belasco, 2019). Winthrop traveled from England with other Puritans
in an attempt to establish a Puritan society in the New World (Johnson & Belasco, 2019). John
Winthrop was raised in a privileged upper-class family and was well-educated compared to
Smith and Bradford (Johnson & Belasco, 2019). Winthrop was an outcast among his peers due to
his religious beliefs, and this ultimately drove him to establish his ‘city on hill’ in Massachusetts
where he became a leader among the Puritan society (Dover Thrift Edition, 2005).
liberality’ (Dover Thrift Edition, Pg. 55, 2005). Winthrop’s belief in a strong community led to
the success of his colony.
Conclusion
Winthrop, Bradford and Smith had their differences in literary style while documenting
their experiences in the New World. Bradford and Winthrop expressed openly the effect God and
their beliefs had on their journey and success. Smith wrote about his brave actions and did not
demonstrate intimate religious belief like Bradford and Winthrop. However, the documentation
of these courageous men left many in Europe with an idea of the struggles and hope the New
World offered.
Philbrick, N. (2006). Mayflower. Penguin Group. New York, NY.
Reference:
Belasco, S. & Johnson, L. (2019). The Bedford Anthology American Literature, Volume 1,
Second Edition, Liberty University (2nd ed.). Macmillan Higher Education.
https://libertyonline.vitalsource.com/books/9781319324414
Dover Thrift Edition. (2005). Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Dover Publications, Inc.
Mineola, NY.
