In Bradford’s Words
From Of Plymouth Plantation, the Journal of William Bradford
Describing the Pilgrims’ Separatist religious beliefs:
“The one side [the Reformers] laboured to have ye right worship of God & discipline of Christ established in ye church, according to ye simplicitie of ye gospell, without the mixture of mens inventions, and to have & to be ruled by ye laws of Gods word, dispensed in those offices, & by those officers of Pastors, Teachers, & Elders, &c. according to ye Scripturs. The other partie [the Church of England], though under many colours & pretences, endevored to have ye episcopall dignitie (affter ye popish maner) with their large power & jurisdiction still retained; with all those courts, cannons, & ceremonies, togeather with all such livings, revenues, & subordinate officers, with other such means as formerly upheld their antichristian greatnes, and enabled them with lordly & tyranous power to persecute ye poore servants of God.”
Describing the Pilgrims’ move to the city of Leiden in Holland in 1609:
“For these & some other reasons they removed to Leyden, a fair & bewtifull citie, and of a sweete situation, but made more famous by ye universitie wherwith it is adorned, in which of late had been so many learned man. But wanting that traffike by sea which Amerstdam injoyes, it was not so beneficiall for their outward means of living & estats. But being now hear pitchet they fell to such trads &
imployments as they best could; valewing peace & their spirituall comforte above any other riches whatsoever. And at lenght they came to raise a competente & comforteable living, but with hard and continuall labor.
Being thus settled (after many difficulties) they continued many years in a comfortable condition, injoying much sweete & delightefull societies & spirituall comforte togeather in ye wayes of God, under ye able ministrie, and prudente governmente of Mr. John Robinson, & Mr. William Brewster, who was an assistante unto him in ye place of an Elder, unto which he was now called & chosen by the church. So as they grew in knowledge & other gifts & graces of ye spirite of God, & lived togeather in peace, & love, and holiness; and many came unto them from diverse parts of England, so as they grew a great congregation. And if at any time any differences arose, or offences broak out (as it cannot be, but some time ther will, even amongst ye best of men) they were ever so mete with, and nipt in ye head betims, or otherwise so well composed, as still love, peace, and communion was continued; or else ye church purged ot those that were incurable & incorrigible, when, after much patience used, no other means would serve, which seldom came to pass.”
The Pilgrims decide to emigrate to America despite the perils and dangers:
“all great & honourable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and must be both enterprised and overcome with answerable courages. It was granted ye dangers were great, but not desperate; the difficulties were many, but not invincible. For though their were many of them likely, yet they were not cartaine; it might be sundrie of ye things feared might never befale; others by providente care & ye use of good means, might in a great measure be prevented; and all of them, through ye help of God, by fortitude and patience, might either be borne, or overcome. True it was, that such atempts were not to be made and undertaken without good ground & reason; not rashly or lightly as many have done for curiositie or hope of gaine, &c. But their condition was not ordinarie; their ends were good & honourable; their calling lawfull, & urgente; and therfore they might expecte ye blessing of god in their proceding. Yea, though they should loose their lives in this action, yet might they have comforte in the same, and their endeavors would be honourable. They lived hear but as men in exile, & in a poore condition; and as great miseries might possibly befale them in this place, for ye 12. years of truce [the truce between Holland and Spain] were now out, & ther was nothing but beating of drumes, and preparing for warr, the events wherof are allway uncertaine.”
The Pilgrims’ safe arrival at Cape Cod aboard the Mayflower:
“Being thus arived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees & blessed ye God of heaven, who had brought them over ye vast & furious ocean, and delivered them from all ye periles & miseries therof, againe to set their feete on ye firme and stable earth, their proper elemente. And no marvell if they were thus joyefull, seeing wise Seneca was so affected with sailing a few miles on ye coast of his owne Italy; as he affirmed, that he had rather remaine twentie years on his way by land, then pass by sea to any place in a short time; so tedious & dreadfull was ye same unto him. But hear I cannot but stay and make a pause, and stand half amased at this poore peoples presente condition; and so I thinke will the reader too, when he well considered ye same. Being thus passed ye vast ocean, and a sea of troubles before in their preparation (as may be remembred by yt which wente before), they had now no friends to wellcome them, nor inns to entertaine or refresh their weatherbeaten bodys, no houses or much less townes to repaire too, to seeke for succoure. ..
Let it also be considred what weake hopes of supply & succoure they left behinde them, yt might bear up their minds in this sade condition and trialls they were under; and they could not but be very smale. It is true, indeed, ye affections & love of their brethren at Leyden was cordiall & entire towards them, but they had litle power to help them, or them selves; and how ye case stode betweene them & ye marchants at their coming away, hath already been declared. What could not sustaine them but ye spirite of God & his grace? May not & ought not the children of these fathers rightly say : Our faithers were Englishmen which came over this great ocean, and were ready to perish in this willdernes; but they cried unto ye Lord, and he heard their voyce, and looked on their adversitie…“
William Bradford writes of how the exploring party from the Mayflower, sailing in the shallop,
survived a storm and landed on Clark’s Island. After spending the Sabbath on the island, the
party finally landed for the first time in Plymouth:
“From hence they departed, & co[a]sted all along, but discerned no place likely for harbor; &
therfore hasted to a place that their pillote, (one Mr. Coppin who had bine in ye cuntrie before) did
assure them was a good harbor, which he had been in, and they might fetch it before night; of which
they were glad, for it begane to be foule weather.
After some houres sailing, it begane to snow & raine, & about ye midle of ye afternoone, ye wind
increased, & ye sea became very rough, and they broake their ruder, & it was as much as 2 men
could doe to steere her with a cupple of oares. But their pillott bad them be of good cheere, for he
saw ye harbor; but ye storme increasing, & night drawing on, they bore what saile they could to gett
in, while they could see. But herwith they broake their mast in 3 peeces, & their saill fell over bord, in
a very grown sea, so as they had like to have been cast away; yet by Gods mercie they recovered
them selves, & having ye floud with them, struck into ye harbore.
But when it came too, ye pillott was deceived in ye place, and said, ye Lord be mercifull unto
them, for his eys never saw yt place before; & he & the mr. mate would have rune her ashore, in a
cove full of breakers, before ye winde. But a lusty seaman which steered, bad those which rowed, if
they were men, about with her, or ells they were all cast away; the which they did with speed. So he
bid them be of good cheere & row lustly, for ther was a faire sound before them, & he doubted not but
they should find one place or other wher they might ride in saftie. And though it was very darke, and
rained sore, yet in ye end they gott under ye lee of a smale iland, and remained ther all yt night in
saftie. But they knew not this to be an iland till morning, but were devided in their minds; some would
keepe ye boate for fear they might be amongst ye Indians; others were so weake and cold, they could
not endure, but got a shore, & with much adoe got fire, (all things being so wett,) and ye rest were
glad to come to them; for after midnight ye wind shifted to the north-west, & it frose hard.
But though this had been a day & night of much trouble & danger unto them, yet God gave them
a morning of comforte & refreshing (as usually he doth to his children), for ye next day was a faire
sunshinig day, and they found them sellvs to be on an iland secure from ye Indeans, wher they might
drie their stufe, fixe their peeces, & rest them selves, and gave God thanks for his mercies, in their
manifould deliverances. And this being the last day of ye weeke, they prepared there to keepe ye
Sabath.
On Munday they sounded ye harbor, and founde it fitt for shipping; and marched into ye land
[Plymouth], & found diverse cornfeilds, & litle runing brooks, a place (as they supposed) fitt for
situation; at least it was ye best they could find, and ye season, & their presente necessitie, made
them glad to accepte of it. So they returned to their shipp againe with this news to ye rest of their
people, which did much comforte their harts.”
Plymouth Colony was governed by a Governor and Court of Assistants, who in turn called the General Court into session. In 1624, the number of Assistants was increased:
“The time of new election of ther officers for this year being come, and ye number of their people increased, and their troubls and occasions therwith, the Gov’r desired them to chainge ye persons, as well as renew ye election; and also to adde more Assistans to ye Gov’r for help & counsell, and ye better carrying on of affairs. Showing tht it was necessarie it should be so. If it was any honour or benefite, it was fitte others should be made pertakers of it; if it was a burthen, (as doubtles it was) it was but equall others should help to bear it; and yt this was ye end of Annuall Elections [end = purpose or intention, therefore ‘this was the purpose of annual elections’]. The issue was, that as before ther was but one Assistante, they now chose 5 giving the Gov’r a duble boyce; and aftwards they increased them to 7 which course hath continued to this day.”
In 1621, King James I authorized the Council for New England to plant and govern land in this area. This Council granted the Peirce Patent, confirming the Pilgrims’ settlement and governance of Plymouth. Peirce and his associates, the merchant adventurers, were allotted 100 acres for each settler the Company transported. The Pilgrims had a contract stating all land and profits would accrue to the Company for 7 years at which time the assets would be divided among the shareholders. Most of the Pilgrims held some stock. The Pilgrims negotiated a more favorable contract with the Company in 1626. In 1627, Plymouth colony determined upon a new economic arrangement with 53 Plymouth freemen (the “Purchasers”) agreeing to buy out the Company over a period of years. In this passage Bradford describes how this new complex economic arrangement was formulated:
“Therefore they resolved, for sundrie reasons, to take in all amongst them, that were either heads of families, or single yonge men, that were of abillity, and free, (and able to governe them selvs with meete descretion, and their affairs, so as to be helpful in ye comone-welth,) into this partnership or purchass. First, yey considered that they had need of men & strength both for defence and carrying on of bussinesses. 2ly, most of them had borne ther parts in former miseries & wants with them, and therfore (in some sort) but equall to partake in a better condition, if ye Lord be pleased to give it. But
cheefly they saw not how peace would be preserved without so doing, but danger & great disturbance might grow to their great hurte & prejudice other wise. Yet they resolved to keep such a mean in distribution of lands, and other courses, as should not hinder their growth in others coming to them.“So they caled ye company togeather, and conferred with them, and came to this conclusion, that ye trade should be managed as before, to help to pay the debts; and all such persons as were above named should be reputed and inrouled for purchasers; single free men to have a single share, and every father of a familie to be alowed to purchass so many shares as he had persons in his family; that is to say, one for him selfe, and one for his wife, and for every child that he had living with him, one. As for servants, they had none, but what either their maisters should give them out of theirs, or
their deservings should obtaine from ye company afterwards. Thus all were to be cast into single shares according to the order abovesaid; and so every one was to pay his part according to his proportion towards ye purchass, & all other debts, what ye profite of ye trade would not reach too; viz. a single man for a single share, a maister of a famalie for so many as he had. This gave all good contente.”
As the population of the Colony and of New England grew in the early 1630s, the original settlers began to disperse and new towns (and church congregations) were formed:
“Also ye people of ye plantation begane to grow in their owtward estats, by reason of ye flowing of many people into ye cuntrie, espetially into ye Bay of ye Massachusets; by which means corne & catle rose to a great prise, by wch many were much inriched, and comodities grue plentifull; and yet in other regards this benefite turned to their hurte, and this accession of strength to their weaknes. For now as their stocks incresed, and ye increse vendible, ther was no longer any holding them togeather, but now they must of necessitie goe to their great lots; they could not other wise keep their katle; and having oxen growne, they must have land for plowing & tillage. And no man now thought he could live, except he had catle and a great deale of ground to keep them; all striving to increase their stocks. By which means they were scatered all over ye bay, quickly, and ye towne, in which they lived compactly till now, was left very thine, and in a short time allmost desolate. And if this had been it, it had been less, thoug to much; but ye church must also be devided, and those yt had lived to long togeather in Christian & comfortable fellowship must now part and suffer many divissions. First, those that lived on their lots on ye other side of ye bay (called Duxberie) they could not long bring their wives & children to ye publick worship & church meetings here, but with such burthen…”