William Bradford

1
William Bradford

• 1590-1657

2
William Bradford

• Born in 1590 in the small farming community of
  Austerfield, Yorkshire, England.
• His father William died when young Bradford was
  just one year old. 
• He lived with his grandfather William, until his
  grandfather died when he was 6. 
• His mother Alice died when he was 7. 
• Orphaned both from parents and grandparents, he
  and older sister Alice were raised by their uncle
  Robert Bradford.

3
William Bradford

• Bradford, at the age of 18, joined with the group
  of Separatists that fled from England in fear of
  persecution, arriving in Amsterdam in 1608. 

4
William Bradford

• Bradford migrated to Holland in 1609 with the
  rest of the group in search of religious freedom
  and lived 11 years in Leiden.
• In 1620 he helped organize the Mayflower's
  expedition to the New World.

5
William Bradford

• To bind the group into a political body, Bradford
  helped draft the important Mayflower Compact en
  route to America.
• He helped select the site for the new colony.
• In 1621, after the colony's first, disastrous
  winter, he was unanimously elected governor,
• served in that position for some 30 years between
  1621 and 1656

6
William Bradford

• Began writing Of Plymouth Plantation in 1630 and
  continued the project until 1647.
• As an account of the Pilgrims, it is a major
  historical and literary achievement of the time.
• Still the primary source of information about the
  Plymouth settlement.

7
William Bradford

• Book I completed within a year or 2.
• Book II written between 1646 1650
• List of Mayflower passengers was added in 1651.

8
William Bradford

• Eyewitness accounts of happenings.
• Considered to be a trustworthy narrator.
• Avowed his purpose to write in a plain style,
  with singular regard unto the simple truth in all
  things.

9
William Bradford

• Like all Puritan historians, wrote with several
  guiding principles in mind.
• Believed that all events were under Divine
  Control
• No one thing was more important than another.
• Couldnt sift through and choose most significant
  events
• Was to tell everything, never stressing one fact
  or minimizing another.
• Interpret all events and relate them to the will
  of God.

10
William Bradford

• OPP was not published in Bradfords lifetime.
• Passed down through family
• Consulted by Cotton Mather and other Puritan
  historians for their writings
• Lost during Revolutionary War
• Reappeared nearly a century later in England
• Published for first time by Massachusetts
  Historical Society in 1856.

11
William Bradford

• Mayflower Compact
• Earliest document of democracy in America.
• Lays the foundation for direct popular
  government.
• Drawn up for the general good by mutual agreement
  of the majority of the people.

12
William Bradford