John Smith and William Bradford
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John Smiths journal and William Bradfords journal are very similar yet different at the same time. Smith and Bradford shared many experiences yet had different attitudes towards them.
The first experience they both shared was traveling to America. First, Smith traveled to Jamestown because he wanted to claim lands for the British crowns and find gold in the process. Smiths voyage to the new land was not the most enjoyable for him due to his disobedience so he was locked up in shackles and put in his own holding quarter. During the time that he was locked up, was the
time when Smith, “embellished by his own pen” (pg 70), wrote his journal. However, ever though Smith was locked up in shackles the whole trip over, when they got to Jamestown he was still considered a leader and was treated better than the commoners because he thought he was of a better class. Bradfords experience on the other hand is much different. First, Bradford traveled to the Massachusetts Bay Colony because he wanted to “separate from the church of England” (pg 70) due to their corruptness. They also wanted religious freedom and hoped they could find it here. Bradford on the other hand was not disobedient so we can rely on Bradfords journal more since he was actually a by-stander on the boat. Bradford unlike Smith did not talk solely about himself; instead he praised everyone on the boat even if their role was small. Bradford also praised God daily and thanked him for all he had done to let them arrive safely.
The next experience they both shared was struggles. Although these were ever present the attitudes they showed torwards them are the things that made them easier or harder. The struggles Smith faced include disease, spies, haters and most importantly the Indians. The diseases they faced in Jamestown differ much from the diseases found in the Massachusets Bay Colony. In Jamestown they had to drink the water out of the river so in turn most people got Salt Water Poisoning and died soon after. The attitude to this stuggle Smith had was just to let it go, even though his men were dieing he wasnt so therefore everything was ok. The next struggle Smith and his crew faced were spies. Pwople were dressing up and acting as colonist but when in reality they were spies from Spain. This struggle lead to many mis-speculations and deaths since they wrent 100% positive who was a spy and who wasnt. smiths attitude torwards this was just to kill anybody he speculated was a spy even if they werent truly a spy. The next obstacle Smith individually faced were haters, people did not like the act that Smith was a leader so many tried to rebel against hmi and kill him all together, yet their attempts failed. Finally Smith faced the Indians. Smith believed that right away the Indians should respect him even though he is the one who should be respecting the Indians. Smith though did not respect