Essay: The Colonial Period
ENGL 201 B08
Professor:
February 6,2023
The Colonial Period is a very intriguing time in history. The North American
colonies were still new, Many were singular cities surrounded by wilderness. Virginia
and Massachusetts were still “lands of opportunity.” This came after Captain John Smith
and William Bradford journeyed from England for a new life. Smith ventured into
current-day Virginia for material gain, while Bradford settled in Massachusetts for
religious purposes. Both of these men wrote about their experiences while in the
“American wilderness.” Both used imagery and hyperboles, also known as narrative
devices to share their experiences in the “new world” for readers to comprehend their
writings.
John Smith and William Bradford took the voyage from England to explore what
cultures at the time deemed the “New World.” That said, both men had different
reasoning and came at different times. The Virginia company, which Smith led, set sail
in December of 1606 with the hope of placing a colony in Virginia governed by King
James the First. This colony was called Jamestown because of this. England hoped that
this colony would offer them the goods they required like crops, money, food, etc.
Bradford sought freedom for a different reason. He separated from the Church of
England in 1606 and became a puritan. According to Keith Murdock, “William Bradford
came to Massachusetts because it was a new step into becoming God’s free people.”
He stopped in Holland before crossing to North America in 1620 praying for religious
freedom. He is best known for leading the pilgrims who traveled aboard the Mayflower
and founded the Plymouth colony.
These men recorded their experiences in the “New World” also known as the
“American Wilderness.” John Smith wrote many works. His most popular two are called
“A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in
Virginia (1608) and Historic of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles (1624) in
which he spoke of his time in Virginia. He used words like “ease” and “plenty to describe
Virginia. However, William Bradford described Massachusetts as the land of “trial” and
“testing” in his article that was titled Of Plymouth Plantation. The problem then was that
both men reported completely different experiences. Why was that? The difference is
that John Smith came for materialistic things, while Bradford came because God called
him to this land. This shows a Secular worldview versus a Christian worldview. John
Smith was not incorrect in thinking the “new world” was plentiful because it was
untouched and full of many resources like land, crops, technology, etc. This was
something he was not used to seeing. Bradford explored Massachusetts for religious
freedom, so he was disappointed when the land lacked “godliness” and therefore spoke
of the land as “hideous.”
The articles written by both men used many literary devices. Imagery and
References
Susan, B. (2019). The Bedford Anthology American Literature, Volume 1, Second
Hyperboles help readers get a clearer understanding of the article. Both Smith and
Bradford wrote very differently. Smith’s wrote very plain and targeted “plain man’s
satisfaction.” A story written by Peter Mancall called Savagery in Jamestown said “John
Smith was a known storyteller and seemed like he loved to tell stories about himself. He
was also known to exaggerate and use hyperboles when he wrote about the fortunes of
the land.” However, William Bradford loved to tell of his writings as “principle things.” His
writings were persuasive but straightforward and wrote of events as they happened. His
style of writing allowed the readers to imagine what he was writing about. An example of
this is “....they fell amongst dangerous shoals and roaring breakers, and they were so
far entangled therewith as they conceived themselves in great danger…” (Bradford
151). This artistic language was used provided the vision of a rough ship ride placed
ahead of the Pilgrims.
John Smith and Mr. Bradford adventured in the same territory, but their worldview
made their experience vastly different. Although Captain Smith saw things through a
secular worldview and William Bradford had a Christian worldview, both men created
articles and documented challenging experiences they faced with the use of imagery
and hyperboles to interest, inform, persuade, and to keep the attention of their audience
Edition, Liberty University (2nd ed.). Macmillan Higher Education.
https://libertyonline.vitalsource.com/books/9781319324414
By Kenneth B. Murdock. “The Pilgrims Progress: OF PLYMOUTH PLANTATION, 1620-
1647, by William Bradford. Edited with notes and an Introduction by Samuel Eliot
Morrison 448 Pp. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. $6” New York Times (1923-), Sep 28,
1952, pp. 1.
Mancall, Peter C. “Savagery in Jamestown.” The Huntington Library Quarterly, vol. 70,
no. 4, 2007, pp. 661-670.
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