Characters that are found in history can relate to the characters or the authors that we read about in books. These similarities can be as simple as a common religion, or even a common style on how these people live.
William Bradford was born in 1590 in the Yorkshire farming community of Austerfield, England. Both of his parents died when he was very young and he spent the early part of his life living with different relatives. At the age of 12, Bradford attended a service in which rituals were not the same as he was accustomed to and the preaching was focused on the separation from the Church of England. Bradford said the following about religious beliefs of the Puritans:
"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."
Bradford and many other Puritans fled the Netherlands because of King James I who was forcing them out due to their religions. William Bradford was an English Separatist leader in both Holland, and in Plymouth Colony. Bradford was also signed the Mayflower Company which was an important historical document that was the first governing document of the upcoming Plymouth Colony while on board the Mayflower in 1620. William Bradford then continued to serve as Plymouth Colony Governor five times covering over thirty years between 1621 and 1657. Through his life in Plymouth, he wrote a journal that would later be called "Of Plymouth Plantation", this journal covered the time frame of 1620 to 1657 while Bradford was leading Plymouth Colony.
Anne Bradstreet was born in 1612 to Thomas Dudley, who managed the affairs of the Earl of Lincoln. In 1630 he sailed with his family for America with the Massachusetts Bay Company. Anne Bradstreet had earlier married Simon Bradstreet at the age of sixteen. The trip across the Atlantic in the “Arbella” took three months. After arriving on shore, the family moved around multiple times. After settling down, Anne turned out to be a perfect example of a Puritan wife. The expectations of Puritan women were extremely high including cooking, the making of clothes, and the obligation to teach their children about the Puritan lifestyle. In addition to these duties, the well-educated Anne Bradstreet also found time to write poems including one of the most famous, “To My Dear and Loving Husband” which stated how she felt her and her husband were one. Her Puritan views are very evident in all of her writings and her lifestyle that she lived.
William Bradford and Anne Bradstreet share multiple similarities and common interests. Both individuals are well-educated, share the same strong Puritan values, and are first generation colonists. These two authors shared a lone fixation, both authors represented a voice for a general population of Puritan people. Bradford’s writing represented the 102 people that traveled across the Atlantic Ocean and the feelings they felt. While Bradstreet represented the Puritan women and all of their needs and wants. These two together described the general life of Puritan person. Both were extremely large and influential figures in the Puritan time.
William Bradford was born in 1590 in the Yorkshire farming community of Austerfield, England. Both of his parents died when he was very young and he spent the early part of his life living with different relatives. At the age of 12, Bradford attended a service in which rituals were not the same as he was accustomed to and the preaching was focused on the separation from the Church of England. Bradford said the following about religious beliefs of the Puritans:
"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."
Bradford and many other Puritans fled the Netherlands because of King James I who was forcing them out due to their religions. William Bradford was an English Separatist leader in both Holland, and in Plymouth Colony. Bradford was also signed the Mayflower Company which was an important historical document that was the first governing document of the upcoming Plymouth Colony while on board the Mayflower in 1620. William Bradford then continued to serve as Plymouth Colony Governor five times covering over thirty years between 1621 and 1657. Through his life in Plymouth, he wrote a journal that would later be called "Of Plymouth Plantation", this journal covered the time frame of 1620 to 1657 while Bradford was leading Plymouth Colony.
Anne Bradstreet was born in 1612 to Thomas Dudley, who managed the affairs of the Earl of Lincoln. In 1630 he sailed with his family for America with the Massachusetts Bay Company. Anne Bradstreet had earlier married Simon Bradstreet at the age of sixteen. The trip across the Atlantic in the “Arbella” took three months. After arriving on shore, the family moved around multiple times. After settling down, Anne turned out to be a perfect example of a Puritan wife. The expectations of Puritan women were extremely high including cooking, the making of clothes, and the obligation to teach their children about the Puritan lifestyle. In addition to these duties, the well-educated Anne Bradstreet also found time to write poems including one of the most famous, “To My Dear and Loving Husband” which stated how she felt her and her husband were one. Her Puritan views are very evident in all of her writings and her lifestyle that she lived.
William Bradford and Anne Bradstreet share multiple similarities and common interests. Both individuals are well-educated, share the same strong Puritan values, and are first generation colonists. These two authors shared a lone fixation, both authors represented a voice for a general population of Puritan people. Bradford’s writing represented the 102 people that traveled across the Atlantic Ocean and the feelings they felt. While Bradstreet represented the Puritan women and all of their needs and wants. These two together described the general life of Puritan person. Both were extremely large and influential figures in the Puritan time.