American literature is the written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and its preceding colonies. During its early history, Columbus discovered America in 1492. Then, America was a series of British colonies on the eastern coast of the present-day United States. Therefore, its literary tradition begins as linked to the broader tradition of English literature. However, unique American characteristics and the breadth of its production usually now cause it to be considered a separate path and tradition.
Owing to the large immigration to Boston in the 1630s, the high articulation of Puritan cultural ideals, and the early establishment of a college and a printing press in Cambridge, the New England colonies have often been regarded as the center of early American literature. However, the first European settlements in North America had been founded elsewhere many years earlier. Towns older than Boston include the Spanish settlements at Saint Augustine (Florida) and Santa Fe (New Mexico), the Dutch settlements at Albany(New York) and New Amsterdam(New York City), as well as the English colony of Jamestown in present-day Virginia. During the colonial period, the printing press was active in many areas, from Cambridge and Boston to New York, Philadelphia, and Annapolis.
The dominance of the English language was hardly inevitable. The first item printed in Pennsylvania was in German and was the largest book printed in any of the colonies before the American Revolution. Spanish and French had two of the strongest colonial literary traditions in the areas that now comprise the United States, and discussions of early American literature commonly include texts by Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and Samuel de Champlain alongside English language texts by Thomas Harriot and John Smith. Moreover, we are now aware of the wealth of oral literary traditions already existing on the continent among the numerous different Native American groups. Political events, however, would eventually make English the lingua franca(tongue language) for the colonies at large as well as the literary language of choice. For instance, when the English conquered New Amsterdam in 1664, they renamed it New York and changed the administrative language from Dutch to English.
William Bradford (March 19, 1590 – May 9, 1657) was an English leader of the settlers of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts, and was elected thirty times to be the Governor after John Carver died. His journal (1620–1647) was published as Of Plymouth Plantation. Bradford is credited as the first civil authority to designate what popular American culture now views as Thanksgiving in the United States.
William Bradford was born to William and Alice Bradford in Austerfield, Yorkshire, England in 1590. Austerfield was a small town of approximately 200, most of them farmers of modest means. The Bradford family, owning a large farm, was considered comparatively wealthy and influential among the citizens of Austerfield. As a child, Bradford experienced the loss of numerous family members. Some historians, such as Nathaniel Philbrick, noted that Bradford’s lack of family bonds was a significant factor in his joining the dissident religious congregation that would one day be known as the Pilgrims. When Bradford was just over a year old, his father died. He was raised by his mother until the age of four when his mother re-married and Bradford was sent to live with his grandfather. Two years later, his grandfather died and he returned to live with his mother and stepfather. A year later, in 1597, Bradford became an orphan at age 7 when his mother died. He was sent to live with two uncles.
His uncles intended for young Bradford to help them on their farm, however Bradford (he later claimed in his journal) suffered at this time from a "long sickness" and was unable to do much work. He instead turned to reading, becoming familiar with the Bible and classic works of literature. This, too, was a key factor in his intellectual curiosity and his eventual attraction to the Separatists.
Separatist congregation
When Bradford was 12 years old, a young friend invited him to hear the Rev. Richard Clyfton preach 10 miles away in Babworth. Clyfton was a Puritan minister who believed that the Church of England required strict reforms to eliminate all vestiges of Catholic practices. This would, proponents believed, result in a more "pure" Christian church. Bradford was immediately inspired by Clyfton’s preachings. Although he was forbidden to do so by his uncles, Bradford continued to attend Clyfton’s sermons. During one of these meetings he met and befriended William Brewster, bailiff and postmaster for the Archbishop of York. Brewster, 24 years older than Bradford, became a father figure to the young man. He resided at Scrooby Manor, just four miles from Austerfield. During frequent visits, Bradford borrowed books from Brewster and Brewster told the young man about church reform efforts taking place throughout England.
King James I took the English throne in 1603 and declared that he would put an end to church reform and deal harshly with radical critics of the Church of England. By 1607, a group of about 50 reform-minded individuals began meeting secretly at Scrooby Manor to celebrate the Sabbath, led by Richard Clyfton and also Rev. John Robinson. This group soon decided that reform of the Church of England was hopeless and that they would separate all ties with it. Thus they became known as Separatists.
The weekly meetings of the Separatists soon attracted the attention of the Archbishop of York and many members of the congregation were arrested in 1607. Brewster was found guilty of being "disobedient in matters of religion" and fined. Some members were imprisoned and others were watched, according to Bradford, "night and day" by those loyal to the archbishop. Adding to their concerns, members of the Scrooby congregation learned that other Separatists in London had been imprisoned and left to starve.
When the Scrooby congregation decided in 1607 to leave England illegally for the Dutch Republic (where religious freedom was permitted), William Bradford determined to go with them. The group encountered several major setbacks in trying to leave England, most notably their betrayal by an English sea captain who had agreed to bring the congregation to the Netherlands but instead turned them over to authorities. Most of the congregation, including Bradford, were imprisoned for a short time after this failed attempt. By the summer of 1608, however, the Scrooby congregation, including 18 year old William Bradford, had managed to escape England in small groups and relocated in Amsterdam.
William Bradford arrived in Amsterdam in August 1608. Having no family with him, Bradford was taken in by the Brewster household. The Separatists, being foreigners and having spent most of their money in attempts to get to the Dutch Republic, had to work the lowest of jobs and lived in poor conditions. After nine months, the congregation chose to re-locate to the smaller city of Leiden.
Bradford continued to reside with the Brewster family in a poor Leiden neighborhood known as Stink Alley. Conditions changed dramatically for Bradford, however, when he turned 21 and was able to claim his family inheritance in 1611. Bradford soon bought his own house, set up a workshop as a fustian weaver, and earned a reputable standing. In 1613, Bradford married Dorothy May, the daughter of a well-off English couple living in Amsterdam. The couple was married in a civil service, as the Separatists could find no example of a religious service in the Scriptures. In 1617, the Bradfords had their first child, John Bradford.
By 1617, the Scrooby congregation began to plan the establishment of their own colony in the New World. Although the Separatists could practice religion as they pleased in the Dutch Republic, they were troubled by the fact that, after nearly ten years in the Netherlands, their children were being influenced by Dutch customs and language. Therefore, the Separatists commenced three years of difficult negotiations in England to seek permission to settle in the northern parts of the Colony of Virginia (which then extended north to what would eventually be known as the Hudson River). The colonists also struggled to negotiate terms with a group of financial backers in London known as the Merchant Adventurers. By July 1620, Robert Cushman and John Carver had made the necessary arrangements and approximately fifty Separatists departed Delftshaven on board the Speedwell.It was an emotional departure. Many families were split as some Separatists stayed behind in the Netherlands, planning to make the voyage to the New World after the colony had been established. William and Dorothy Bradford left their three year old son John with Dorothy's parents in Amsterdam, possibly because he was too frail to make the voyage.
Founding of Plymouth Colony
According to the arrangements made by Carver and Cushman, the Speedwell was to meet up with the Mayflower off the coast of England and both would sail to Hudson's River, now the site of New York City. The Speedwell, however, proved too leaky to make the voyage and about 100 passengers were instead crowded aboard the Mayflower. Joining the Scrooby congregation were about 50 colonists who had been recruited by the Merchant Adventurers for their vocational skills which would prove useful in establishing a colony. These passengers of the Mayflower, both Separatist and non-Separatist, are commonly referred to today as "Pilgrims." The term is derived from a passage in Bradford's journal, written years later, describing their departure from the Netherlands:
...With mutual embraces and many tears, they took their leaves of one another, which proved to be the last leave to many of them...but they knew they were pilgrims and looked not much on those things, but lifted their eyes to heaven, their dearest country and quited their spirits...
The Mayflower reached Cape Cod (now part of Massachusetts) on November 9, 1620 after a voyage of 64 days. For a variety of reasons, primarily a shortage of supplies, the Mayflower could not proceed to Hudson's River and the colonists decided to settle somewhere on or near Cape Cod. They had no permission from the Crown to do so, however, and the legal status of the colony would therefore become void. The leaders of the colony felt this situation might lead to political anarchy and, motivated by mutinous outbursts from some of the colonists, they drafted the Mayflower Compact (permission to practice Christianity according to their determination) off the coast of Cape Cod. Through the compact, which all free adult males signed, the colonists agreed to majority rule. Simultaneously, they elected John Carver their first governor.
Up to this time, Bradford, aged 30, had yet to assume any significant leadership role in the colony. When the Mayflower anchored in present-day Provincetown Harbor and the time came to search for a place for settlement, Bradford volunteered to be a member of the exploration parties. In November and December, these parties made three separate ventures from the Mayflower on foot and by boat, finally locating what is now Plymouth harbor in mid December and selecting that site for settlement. During the first expedition on foot, Bradford was caught up in a deer trap made by Native Americans and hauled nearly upside down. During the third exploration, which departed from the Mayflower on December 6, 1620, a group of men including Bradford located present day Plymouth Bay. A winter storm nearly sunk their boat as they approached the bay, but the explorers, suffering from severe exposure to the cold and waves, managed to successfully land on Clark's Island.
During the ensuing days, they explored the bay and found a suitable place for settlement, now the site of downtown Plymouth, Massachusetts. The location featured a prominent hill (now known as Burial Hill) ideal for a defensive fort. There were numerous brooks(small rivers) providing fresh water. Also, the site had been the location of a Native American village known as Patuxet, therefore much of the area had already been cleared for planting corn. The Patuxet tribe, between 1616 and 1619, had been wiped out by plagues resulting from contact with English fishermen—diseases to which the Patuxet had no immunity. Bradford later wrote that bones of the dead were clearly evident in many places.
Loss of first wife
The exploring party made their way back to the Mayflower to share the good news that a place for settlement had been found. When Bradford arrived back onboard, he learned of the death of his wife, Dorothy. The day after he had embarked(went) with the exploring party, Dorothy slipped over the side of the Mayflower and drowned. Bradford did not write about her death in his journal, and there are no indications that Bradford ever spoke of her again.
Great sickness
The Mayflower arrived in Plymouth Bay on December 20, 1620. The settlers began building the colony's first house on December 23. Their efforts were slowed, however, when a widespread sickness struck the settlers.
On January 11, 1621, as Bradford was helping to build houses, he was suddenly struck with great pain in his hipbone and he collapsed. Succumbing to the illness that had afflicted many others, Bradford was taken to the "common house" (the only finished house then built) and it was feared he would not last the night.
During the epidemic, there were only a small number of men who remained healthy and bore the responsibility of caring for the sick. One of these was Captain Myles Standish, a soldier who had been hired by the settlers to coordinate the defense of the colony. Standish cared for Bradford during his illness and this was the beginning of a bond of friendship between the two men. Bradford would soon be elected governor and, in that capacity, he would work closely with Standish. Bradford had no military experience and therefore would come to rely on and trust the Captain's advice on military matters.