This paper examines William Bradford's journal Of Plymouth Plantation and the Mayflower Compact as foundational texts in American history. Drawing on Bradford's firsthand account, the paper traces the Pilgrims' flight from religious persecution in England, their harrowing Atlantic crossing aboard the Mayflower, and the drafting of the Compact upon arrival at Cape Cod in 1620. The essay also explores the varying interpretations of the Compact — as a precursor to the U.S. Constitution, a declaration of independence, or an expression of loyalty to the Crown — and considers how Plymouth Rock has been mythologized as a symbol of American democratic values.
What does the word "Pilgrims" mean to the typical American citizen? Most likely, a substantial number of people hearing the word will think immediately of Thanksgiving — of those first courageous arrivals from Southampton, England, who shared a meal with Native Americans in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. But there is a great deal more to the Pilgrims' story than most Americans are aware of, and that detailed story unfolds dramatically in the writings of William Bradford, who penned Of Plymouth Plantation, a journal covering the first thirty years of Plymouth Colony, alongside the Mayflower Compact.
The Mayflower Compact is considered by some, at least unofficially, as the first legal and social document that established guidelines and rules for the original Plymouth settlers to follow. Some scholars even allude to the Mayflower Compact as a foundational precursor to the U.S. Constitution. Bradford's journal is "the single most complete authority for the story of the Pilgrims and the early years of the Colony they founded," according to the Pilgrim Hall Museum, located in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Historians consider the Bradford journal "the preeminent work of 17th-century America." The manuscript was held in Boston's Old South Church Library in the 1760s, then disappeared, only to be rediscovered in the library of the Bishop of London in the 1850s. In 1897, it was returned to the State Library at the State House in Boston, where it remains available to the public.
In Of Plymouth Plantation, Bradford discusses how his group struggled under the ongoing persecution of Christians in England in the early 1600s. Freedom to worship as they wished was not an option in England, so Bradford's offshoot Christian congregation — who were "hunted and persecuted on every side" (Bradford 158) for developing their own style of worship — broke away from the Church of England. They fled to Holland in 1607 and 1608, then returned to England to prepare for the arduous journey across the Atlantic to the New World.
It is important to note that freedom of religion was the principal reason for the Pilgrims' flight. There was considerable emotion surrounding the planning of the trek; "the dangers were great," Bradford writes, "but not desperate" (161). Still, remaining in England felt like living "in exile," so staying on English soil was not an option. Once aboard the Mayflower and heading toward the New World, the real adventure began.
A "very profane young man" (Bradford 166) on board caused problems by rudely cursing at passengers suffering from seasickness. Bradford recorded that the seaman expressed a wish to "help cast half of them overboard before they came to their journey's end." Yet the tables turned on this unruly young man: "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 thrown overboard." His bad behavior, it seemed, had its own consequences.
Bradford describes terrible storms and many other challenges during the crossing. "The winds were so fierce and the seas so high," he writes (167), that the sails had to be taken down entirely. Nevertheless, the passengers survived the frightening journey, and upon their arrival on the shores of Cape Cod on November 11, 1620, the adventure of their lifetimes truly began.
Bradford was not restrained in his journal about shedding light on all aspects of life in the colony, including what he titled "A Horrible Case of Beastiality" (190–191). A young man named Thomas Granger was indicted for acts of intimacy with a mare, a cow, "two goats, five sheep, two calves and a turkey." Bradford reports that, prior to Granger's execution, "the mare and then the cow and the rest of the lesser cattle were killed before his face, according to the law" — a law derived from the Old Testament book of Leviticus (xx, 15). Once the animals had been slaughtered and Granger executed, a large pit was dug and the animals buried, and "no use was made of any part of them."
The most striking element of this passage is Bradford's own reflection: he wondered "how it came to pass that so many wicked persons and profane people should so quickly come over into this land and mix themselves amongst them" (190). After all, the journey's original purpose was to allow the Pilgrims to worship without intimidation or persecution. Yet, it not being a perfect world, some of those who came clearly brought less than pure intentions with them.
"Loyalist vs. independence readings of the Compact"
"Pilgrims outside Virginia jurisdiction draft their own laws"
"Plymouth Rock as mythologized symbol of American identity"
No matter how Plymouth Rock has been used at various times as a symbol of America's past, what is truly important is not the rock itself — nor even the fact that it has been chipped away to a fraction of its original size — but rather Bradford's remarkable historical journal and the Mayflower Compact. America, a symbol known throughout the world for freedom of expression and religious choice, is indeed embodied permanently in those foundational documents.
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