Historical Narratives and

“Of Plymouth Plantation”

by William Bradford

Historical Narratives

• If you wanted to know what life was like for someone 400 years ago, where could you get the information? – History books?– Autobiography?– Biography?– Diaries?

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 document’s 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

Lasting Effects of Puritans

• 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

Plymouth Colony

William Bradford

• Elected governor after the first leader died– Reelected fifteen times

• Helped create positive Indian relations and democratictown 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:

• Simple—plain writing style with a clear statement. There is no use of pathos or emotion to sway the reader.

• Straightforward—unembellished direct statements, with little figurative language, although there are frequent Biblical allusions.

• Spiritual—intended 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.