Visions and VoyagesEA Notes Encounters and Foundations to
1800Essential QuestionsMayflower CompactWhy is the Mayflower
Compact one of the great documents of American history? How does
the American narrative tradition continue to inform and influence
people today?How does ones beliefs influence the way he/she copes
with obstacles that come in life?How does a persons view of the
world affect his/her chances of survival in a challenging
situation?How could ones belief/faith affect the way he/she
interprets a reading passage or poem?
[We] covenantourselves togetherto enact, constitute and frame
such just and equal lawsfor the general good of the Colony, unto
which we promise all due submission and obedience.
Essential QuestionsOf Plymouth Plantation - William BradfordWhat
are the themes that Bradford incorporates within this historical
narrative?How does the use of plain style affect the message
Bradford wishes to convey?How does Bradford link his experiences
with Gods plan in this narrative?
Of Plymouth Plantation - William Bradford Bradford videoNotes on
Of Plymouth Plantation William BradfordThemeListen to William
Bradfords account of the Mayflowers Voyage Chapter 9 textbook p.
54-57 Take notes on the main themes and details to answer the
essential questions
I. MAJOR THEMES of Of Plymouth Plantation:God's Providence: Just
as God provided for the Israelites fleeing bondage in Egypt,
Bradford said God would provide for the Pilgrims fleeing religious
persecution in England. "And I may not omit her a special work of
God's __________________" (chapter 9: A non-Pilgrim sailor bragged
that he would throw most of the Pilgrims over the side of the
Mayflower for they would die in the voyage. However, this mocking
__________ was overcome by disease, and he himself ironically was
the _______________ thrown overboard.Total dependence on God: As
the Pilgrims near America, Bradford meditates on the Pilgrims'
bleak situation (chap. 9): "But here I cannot but stay and make a
pause, and stand half amazed at this ____________ ________________
present condition. [. . .] Being thus passed the vast ____________,
and a sea of ________________ before [them . . .] they had now no
friends to welcome them nor inns to entertain or refresh their
_____________________ bodies." Those who will meet them are "savage
________________" ready "to fill [the Pilgrims'] sides full of
______________" (chap. 9). The season is also against them since it
is "_____________. Bradford said that in front of them was a
"savage" "wilderness" and behind them a "mighty ocean" separating
them from "the ___________ parts of the world." In such a miserable
condition, Bradford asks, "What could now sustain [the Pilgrims]
but the ___________ of God and His _____________?" (chap. 9); in
the same way, Bradford answers, God had sustained the Israelites in
the Wilderness. The Mayflower Compact (chap. 11) is the first New
World document based on the concept of a democratic government: "We
[. . .] _______________ and Combine ourselves together into a Civil
Body ____________ [. . .] to enact [. . .] such just and equal
____________ [. . .] as shall be thought most meet and convenient
for the general ____________ of the colony" (chap. 11).Half of the
Pilgrims died during the first winter, a time of starving (chap.
11). Captain Miles Standish is praised. Through the help of a
friendly Indian, Squanto--who is called "a special _______________
sent of God" to help the Pilgrims (chap. 11)--the Pilgrims draw up
a peace treaty with the ____________. The first _______________
(1621) is celebrated (chap. 12).
