Essential Question: Puritan Literature

While the American Dream can offer hope in a verity of ways, it can seemingly also promote religious fears and intolerance. For example, puritans, were one of the first groups of people to move to America and were seeking religious freedom, people such as Bradford, Bradstreet and Taylor, all of who found their hope in their freedom to practice religion as they pleased. With this new freedom these people were able to live out their meaning of the American Dream with a new found hope. Likewise, after this freedom was established people such as Bradford, Bradstreet, and Taylor began to also pursue their own religion on other, and not tolerate anyone who did not worship as they did. People such as these began to fear other people achieving their own personal dreams, and began to in tolerate anything that was different from the religion of their own. The puritan era drastically showed the hope that people were looking for, but also showed the fear that they single handedly created, causing intolerance of any other religion.

William Bradford: Of Plymouth Plantation

"Being thus arrived in a good harbor, and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element."

Diary: The journey to this new land was very displeasing. Many of our people became sick because of the rough and tremulous sea; one young man even fell overboard. Maybe this is Gods way of ensuring we are pleased by our new home. The savages were very hostile in this land; if things don’t change soon, they may become a problem. The savages are getting braver and starting to attack our men. But thus is the will of God. We killed over 400 of the savages in there town. We have run into many misfortunes on our voyage but god has been on our side, and we have managed to survive thus.
- William Bradford

Reflection: One of the important things in coming to a new land is to build up a safe "home" like enviorment, which is not shown in "Of Plymouth Plantation". When the ship landed in Cape Cod they should have built up a safe haven. In building this safe haven there would be a place to protect themselves from the savages. The men might have been better off protecting themselves instead of scouting the land so much searching for the savages home. I also feel that the deaths of the 400 men could have been avoided. Although there were many issues that needed to be dealt with, an attack was not necessarily the only choice. The English could have easily reasoned with the Indians, and avoided the conflict all together. And also in avoiding this the English would not only protect themselves but also the Indians.