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William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation

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Perry Miller’s statement embracing the attitudes, characteristics, personalities, lifestyles, beliefs, and values of the Puritan community by authors such as William Bradford, John Winthrop, and Jonathan Edwards are essential in understanding the essence of Puritanism. William Bradford along with other English immigrates were greatly influence by religious persecution in England. The Plymouth Colony of Massachusetts in 1620 was established on the beliefs and influences of the Puritan religion. Although Bradford’s writings were influenced by the experience of the voyage and the tasks for survival in a new land, his writings were closely related to his Puritan background. Bradford’s writings in the Of Plymouth Plantation reveal many of the factors …show more content…

He praises God for good things that happen to him and the colonists. Bradford’s strong beliefs are seen when the sailors decided to continue the voyage after the realization the ship was not in very good shape. In the quote, “So they committed themselves to the will of God, and resolved to proceed” (Bradford 132), Bradford gives credit to God for their will to continue on the dangerous voyage. Also, once they reached the new land, he praises God, “They fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven, who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof” (Bradford 133).” Many of the writings come directly from the Puritan beliefs. Although Bradford praises God for the good things, he also believes that bad things happen to people as a form of punishment by God. In the quote, “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” (131), Bradford believed the sailor was being punished because of the way he treated other passengers on board the ship. Another example in chapter ten, “Their men ran with all speed to recover their arms, as by the good providence of God they did” (136), Bradford supported the idea Puritans were the chosen people of God. In this quote, Bradford believed that the Puritans who went

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