Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647 by William Bradford

After a grueling winter, during which many died, including the already chosen governor, Bradford was unanimously elected to be governor of the settlement. The Mayflower then sailed for the area called Plymouth, where the settlers set up a permanent community. Soon afterward Bradford and the other male travelers signed the colonial contract known as the Mayflower Compact, a document emphasizing self-governance. The troubled journey took more than two months, and due to harsh weather and being forced off course, the vessel arrived a significant distance from their planned destination, in Cape Cod, where Bradford's wife fell overboard and drowned.

The voyagers consisted of people called “Saints,” those who followed Separatist ideology, and “Strangers,” those who paid for passage with no regard of religious affiliation. After one of the two commissioned ships was deemed unworthy for travel, in September 1620 the group of 102 passengers later dubbed “pilgrims” sailed forth from England on the Mayflower. Bradford was in a leadership position and handled a major portion of administrative duties, including sorting out financial backing for the trip and related claims to land. 'Mayflower' Voyageīradford stayed in the Netherlands for more than a decade, with the idea taking root among the Separatist congregation that they should journey to the New World and settle north of the already established Virginia Colony. He and other congregants eventually fled to the Netherlands to escape persecution, though in their adopted land, they still faced attacks, due to the country’s affiliation with England’s King James I. Attending a religious service in Scrooby before his teen years, the youngster joined the Separatist denomination, a more radical branch of Puritanism that believed in removing itself from the Church of England. His parents died early in his childhood, leaving Bradford in the care of various relatives. William Bradford was believed to have been born in Austerfield, Yorkshire, England, in March 1590, with records indicating his baptism being held around this time. He died in 1657, with much of the history of the settlement recorded in his two-volume work, Of Plymouth Plantation. He and other congregants eventually sailed from England on the Mayflower to establish a colony in Plymouth, Massachusetts, where Bradford became longtime governor after a devastating winter. William Bradford was a leading figure in the Puritans' Separatist movement.

Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647 by William Bradford