HISTORICAL

NARRATIVES AND

OF PLYMOUTH
PLANTATION

BY WILLIAM BRADFORD
HISTORICAL NARRATIVES
Definition: accounts of real-life historical
experiences, written by either a person who
experienced those events or someone who studied
or observed them.

In many cases, historical narratives become
important documents.
PRIMARY SOURCES
Materials written by people who were either
participants in or observers of the events written
about.

Letters, diaries, journals, speeches, autobiographies, and
histories.

STRATEGIES FOR READING
PRIMARY SOURCES
Determine a documents origin
Try to understand the perspective and motives of
the writer
Note sensory details that depict people, places,
and events
Identify customs, values, or conditions of the culture
or time period.
SECONDARY SOURCES
Records of events written by people who were not
directly involved in the events

Biographies and histories
IDENTIFYING SOURCES
Are the following Primary or Secondary
Sources?
The handwritten will of a European settler in
Virginia, dated 1610
An encyclopedia article entitled Puritans
The Mayflower Compact, an agreement written
and signed by passengers on the Mayflower in
1620
A book entitled Massachusetts Before the Pilgrims,
written in 1975
A record of births and deaths kept by the
residents of a village in colonial Virginia


TIPS FOR READING PRIMARY
SOURCES CONT.
Reread and paraphrase unfamiliar ideas
Restate the main idea in your own words
Visualize what the author describes
Predict what will happen next
Connect the narrative to what you know
Ask questions about the narrative
Make a timeline of the events described
PURITAN BELIEFS
Puritanism covered a period from the1550s to about
1700

Originally developed in England to purify the Anglican
church (or the Church of England) of the trappings of
Catholicism

IN OR OUT
Puritans believed that they were
part of the elect
They got into heaven
No one else did
Still, they constantly worried
about making a mistake
PARADOX
If you are either in or out, how can you get more in
or out of Heaven?
This is the issue that plagued Puritan life
Hell was very real to them

PURITAN DAILY LIFE
Women had their place
Modest, silent, mothers, homemakers, servants,
subservient
Men were leaders
Children were seen not heard
Class system: indentured servants, some slaves
POLITICS
Puritans consider themselves English citizens.
Governed by a governer.
Ministers are elected by male church members.
A cushy job: firewood, food, lodging
But ministers have to keep the pews full and more people
coming in.
Emphasis on
Simplicity in Worship
Public Education
High Moral Standards
Democratic Political
Principles
Puritan Ethic
Believed good was
accomplished through
hard work, self-reliance,
and self-discipline.
Influenced industrialism
and efficiency.
Harvard University
A Separatist movement developed within the Puritans.
They had given up on purifying the church deciding
that only a separate movement could succeed.
Moving first to Holland in 1607, fear of assimilation
and lack of religious fervor led them to leave for a new
land devoyd of all civill inhabitants in 1620. These
people we call Pilgrims.
William Bradford,Governor of the Plymouth Colony
WILLIAM BRADFORD
Elected governor after the first leader died
Reelected fifteen times
Helped create positive Indian relations and democratic
town hall meetings
Began writing his narrative Of Plymouth Plantation in
1630, but it was not published until 1856
Used Puritan Plain Style

Style of Puritan literature:
Simpleplain writing style with a clear
statement. There is no use of pathos or
emotion to sway the reader.
Straightforwardunembellished direct
statements, with little figurative language,
although there are frequent Biblical allusions.
Spiritualintended as either personal
reflection or group edification
Of Plymouth
Plantation
Non-Fiction Narrative
Account
Tell the story of real-life
events. Can be first-hand or
written by someone that
researched the events.
Considered the most
complete authority on
the Puritans and a
primary document on
the time period.