Today’s essay topic is- “Was Bradford’s account a morality tale for future generations?”
Before getting to answering today’s topic question I’ll first debunk the meaning of morality tale to those that don’t understand what it means. Morality tale is like putting entertainment, information, and instruction. Morality meaning instruction and info on how to live or do things a certain way that’s morally right and a tale is a story to entertain or explain something in a visually appealing way to your audience. Put those together and you get an entertaining story with additional information and instruction on certain things.
Going back to our today’s essay topic of- “Was Bradford’s account a morality tale for future generations?” William Bradford, the author of the account “Of Plymouth Plantation”, was an English Separatist leader in Leiden, Holland, and in Plymouth Colony. He was signed, along with others, to the Mayflower Compact while aboard the Mayflower in 1620. He served as Plymouth Colony Governor five times covering about thirty years between 1621 and 1657. His journal, Of Plymouth Plantation, covered the period from 1620 to 1657 in Plymouth Colony. The most significant thing about this story written by William Bradford is that it dates the events taken place of the Pilgrim Church in England, the group who left for Holland and eventually the trip on the Mayflower to the New World on November 11, 1620, and the early days of colonial America. On their way to their destination, they endured harsh weathers, overly cramped, and other conditions. When they’ve arrived at their destination, William Bradford and many others went ahead to explore the land while the rest stayed behind and waited for their arrival. During the exploration, William and the other men met some native americans that already live on this land. Knowing this information and the lands that have been prepped for crop planting, they headed back to the Mayflower and reported this to the others. Sadly when William returned he learned that his wife, Dorothy fell off the ship and died.
The future colony started their journey by building some housing first, so that people would have somewhere to live. When the english colony came to the new land, many had common flu to which they were immune to, but the native americans weren’t, so many of them died during this time. When the harsh winters hit the colony, now it’s the englishmen that were dying from the cold and lack of food. This was definitely a challenge for the pilgrim people, but their faith was stronger, and they kept moving forward. Spring was around the corner and this was the time for the colony to introduce themselves and welcome the native americans to create an agreement with each other. So that the colony would be allies with the Indian village the Patuxet. After establishing this agreement, the Indians showed the Pilgrims how to grow crops for themselves and the Pilgrims in return gave them gifts made of metal for their use. After governor Carver passed away while working in the fields during a hot sunny day, William Bradford was quickly put as the new governor and alongside him stood Captain Myles Standish, a soldier who had been hired by the settlers to coordinate the defense of the colony. Him and Bradford bonded during the time when Bradford was injured severely, but soon recovered with a great help from Captain Myles Standish. Bradford was governor of the colony for 33 years and that’s how the new england colony was formed, with hard effort and steady strong faith.
To finally answer today’s question, I wouldn’t say this is just some story, but a story of real history and happened not too long ago. To me it was definitely entertaining to read this story, and I learned a lot from the perspective of William Bradford. He’s one of a kind hero for enduring a lot of trials throughout this life-changing trip, I mean losing his wife was definitely devastating for him, getting sick himself, problem solving in uneasy times, etc. got him through helping the english colony prosper for more generations to come!
IN CONCLUSION:
Sooo was Bradford’s account a morality tale for future generations, I’d say it definitely is! Imagine the future generations hearing and reading Williams account of where the colony started from, that must’ve been a very fun experience, informative, and also a feeling of sadness to those that passed away trying to help the colony prosper. This real historical story helps the future generations remember the laid foundation by others so that they are able to grow and continue sharing not only this story, but the big faith that helped get them here in the new land.
Thank you so much for reading this essay! I hope you enjoyed it or learned something new! I’ll be posting more essays soon and have a blessed rest of your day! 💕
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