Compare And Contrast William Bradford And John Smith

To Freedom with Chains William Bradford and John Smith are two notorious figures in American history. Both men established colonization in the New World through the use of pamphlets, diaries, and personal accounts of life after England. William Bradford, the governor of Plymouth Plantation, was a devout Puritan and at the tender age of twelve, received his first copy of the Bible. For John Smith, an English Soldier and Captain, he had no one to thank but himself for any accomplishments achieved in Jamestown, Virginia. In the text, The General History, one can find numerous references to Smith as a perfect leader who only sought to help his community thrive. While he may have thought that his fellow settlers viewed him as an all-powerful

William Bradford had an advantage, seeing as that he shared the religious views of his people. He was a devout Puritan and believed in the simplistic way of life, versus John Smith who sought adventure and notoriety. Bradford was well-respected and his people appointed him governor over thirty times. While both William Bradford and John Smith were able to realize their settlements, John Smith had a much more difficult time connecting with the other men. They found John Smith to be incredibly vain and immodest and one can note this in his writings. In John Smith’s The General History, a text meant to transform the weltanschauung of the New World, he wrote that, “ The new President and Martin, being little beloved, of weak judgment in dangers and less industry in peace, committed the managing of all things abroad to Captain Smith: who by his own example, good words, and fair promises, set some to mow, others to bind thatch, some to build houses, others to thatch them, himself always bearing the greatest task for his own share, so that in short time, he provided most of them [with] lodgings, neglecting any for himself.” The aforesaid quote may seem to have been written by a fellow settler in order to exonerate John Smith for his leadership abilities but in fact, it is John, himself, who wrote this in

Without common goals, interests, and good chemistry, a settlement could fall apart in a matter of days. William Bradford and his fellow men began their settlement with a common goal of relinquishing ties to the adorned Church of England, and starting their own utopia, where they were free to practice their religion as they pleased without fear of incarceration or harassment. William Bradford had an outstanding sense of community; he was well-respected by his people and elected over thirty times to be Governor of Plymouth Plantation. For John Smith, his sense of community was abysmal. Once his feet stepped onto Virginian soil, he was given a leadership position and never had to seek favor with his fellow men. As time went by, the settlers came to see him as a very boastful man and over imaginative. He was also reckless, as noted with his capture by Powhatan’s men, immediately after landing. Ironically, however, his over confidence, and trinkets are what saved him from the wrath of the men he referred to as “savages.” While there are many differences between William Bradford and John Smith, they both agreed, in the end, that “…to make America thrive required not fantasies but patience, a sense of glory, an experienced commander, and above all, hard work.” William Bradford did not fight in the Netherlands and Hungary before the age of twenty-five or been captured and taken as slave to