History of American Wildness - Essay Example

The information about the early American colonies received from the primary sources is the most valuable because the authors are not just neutral witnesses. They showed their colonies through the prism of a mixture of private, public, economic, and religious interests to them. Moreover, their creations perfectly illustrate the standpoints of the colonists, not of the Native Americans. Different textbooks usually present very different facts about the same event or a historical personality and the information received from the primary sources can help understand what is right or wrong. The given paper will discuss the records of the two governors of early American colonies.

William Bradford (1590-1657) is known as an American colonial ruler and a Pilgrim's head. He became famous due to a great number of facts. The most important achievements of Bradford are the foundation of the Plymouth Colony and the establishment of peaceful relations with Native Americans (Perkins, 2006). The record of William Bradford tells us about the Pilgrims’ arrival in 1620: “Being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safely to land, they fell upon their knees & blessed ye God of heaven, who had brought them over ye vast & furious ocean and delivered them from all ye perils & miseries thereof, again to set their feet on ye firmer and stable earth, their proper element” (Bradford (Edited by Samuel Eliot Morison, 1967) Their primary goal was to find a place where they would become independent in their religious belief. Pilgrims considered Virginia to be the right place for them. However, they arrived in a place where there was no government, so they had to form it. Mayflower Compact, a document created by Pilgrims, became a record of the new laws and William Bradford was appointed as a leader.

From Bradford’s record, we find out that the new conditions differed much from the life the Pilgrims got used to. It was very difficult for people to survive the first winter, which was extremely cold. Bradford understood that the help of Native Americans was essential, so he established an agreement with the Wampanoag tribe head. This tribe was one of the friendly tribes, which helped new Americans adapt to the new life. Bradford was the organizer of the first Thanksgiving Day held to thank Native Americans for their help. Bradford wrote in his records, that “…and no marvel if they were thus joyful, seeing wise Seneca was so affected with sailing a few miles on ye coast of his own Italy; as he affirmed, that he had rather remain twenty years on his way by land, then pass by sea to any place in a short time; so tedious & dreadful was ye same unto him” (Bradford (Edited by Samuel Eliot Morison, 1967).

John Smith (1580 - 1631) was an English traveler and warrior, and one of the originators of the Jamestown Colony. He was among English travelers who came from England to Virginia in 1607. He called the place he came to New England. John Smith became one of the colony’s leaders. Jamestown is considered to be the first permanent colony in North America. John Smith’s record represents a very interesting writing telling about the facts that are not possible to reveal using simple historical investigation. John considered his relations with the Native population to be relations of "cat and mouse" because they "sometimes had peace and war twice in a day" (Smith, 1624)

From Smith’s record, we can find out a lot about the life of new settlers, their occupations, and their struggle. He wrote about the investigation of the Chesapeake Bay area. The most interesting facts can be found about the fights with Native American tribes. The record of John Smith is valuable because it represents the only account. However, the reliability of this record was doubted, because of the image of Pocahontas, a girl who saved his life: “At the minute of my execution, she hazarded [i.e. risked] the beating out of her brains to save mine; and not only that but so prevailed with her father, that I was safely conducted to Jamestown" (Smith, 1624). Some facts about Pocahontas, mainly the letter to Queen Ann, were considered to be false and especially thought out by the writer. However, some historians still consider John Smith’s records to be very reliable because he made stressed the historical events, not his personality, so there was no need to think something about one certain image.

Having read the material about American colonies it is possible to conclude that the information available about the early colonial period is received from reliable sources. The sources are reliable because they are primary and written by the people who established the first colonies. They are people who took part in most events they write about. For instance, the information about the Plymouth Colony became accessible due to the writing of William Bradford, while the history of Jamestown was created by its governor John Smith, who made his New England attractive to people with a famous phrase: "Here every man may be master and owner of his labor and land...If he has nothing but his hands, he may...by industry quickly grow rich.. “ (Smith, 1624). Read More