One World, One Land, Two Stories

Two sixteenth century writers, John Smith and William Bradford, write about their experiences in North America in The General History (John Smith) and in Of Plymouth Plantation (William Bradford). Facing many struggles, both authors experience hardship physically and introspectively. Along with environmental and personal struggles came social struggles with the Indians. Landing on the same continent, William Bradford and John Smith give similar accounts of the new world while having completely different motives and styles. …

…glorify God with the minute amount of benevolence that man can offer. Settling in the same land, same world, and writing about similar experiences, yet having different intentions resulted in a completely different direction of writing. The adventures of John Smith gave evidence to disprove the myths of the ferocious monsters. Starting life in America in tragedy, only saw more tragedy throughout life, but was able to look towards God in times of deepest sorrow.