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Puritans

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Puritans and Native Americans Examine some of the Puritan beliefs revealed by the works we have covered that led to tensions, conflicts, and concerns among the colonists and/or the Native Americans. Colonization in America by the Puritans occurred in 1620. Unlike the pilgrims who had arrived in America earlier and settled in Jamestown, the Puritans came to reform the church. All Puritans had strong religious beliefs and wanted America to be a place for liberation. According to the article God in America, 2010 “Puritans did not break with the Church of England, but instead sought to reform it.” Also from the text, “The reign of James I (1603–1625), however, brought about the Separatist movement that sent the Pilgrims first to the Netherlands and then to Plymouth” (Puritanism, 58). The Puritans would settle and form the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Today this part of America is referred to as the New England States. Life at the beginning was hard for the Puritans and many tensions/conflicts would arise with the local Native Americans. Many of these conflicts would be documented through literary works, such as, William Bradford, Mary Rowlandson, and St. John De Crevecoeur. Literary history has allowed society to gain an understanding of the conflicts between the Puritans and Native Americans. William Bradford was well known for his impact on the Plymouth colonies. In traveling to America he was a very religious man. “William Bradford was one of the greatest of colonial Americans, a man large in spirit and wisdom, wholly consecrated to a mission in which he regarded himself as an instrument of God” (Bradford, 40). His literary works told of his stories of Plymouth and how his beliefs in God helped make decisions, survival, and guidance in treatment of the Native Americans. For example, in his writings from Plymouth Plantations Book 1, the Natives are first perceived as the enemy. Bradford tells of an encounter with Native Americans or (savages) on their campsite and how they fought one another. Bradford gives all the credit to God for the outcomes of the situation. “Thus it pleased God to vanquish their enemies and give them deliverance; and by His special providence so to dispose that not any one of them were either hurt or hit, though their arrows came close by them and on every side [of] them” (Bradford, 48). This situation would not be the outcome of the Puritans and Native’s relationship. A while later, they would meet Indians named Samoset and Squanto. The story that has had an impact on our American history and still taught in schools across America today. The Puritans and Native Americans would come to an agreement and no longer be considered enemies. A compact between the two would be made, and soon after they would celebrate “The First Thanksgiving” together in 1621. From Bradford, p. 51, “This first American treaty, with the Wampanoag people, was faithfully kept for fifty-four years, until 1675, when Massasoit’s son, Metacomet, or King Philip, began those savage attacks, known as King Philip’s War, which included the Deerfield Massacre.” Another literary Puritan author, Mary Rowlandson, would write about her conflicts and encounters with the Native Americans in her book, A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. These happenings occur about fifty years after William Bradford. Her relationship to the Native Americans would be far worse than Bradford’s. “In 1675–1676, the New England settlements came under siege by the Indians in the confrontation that became known as King Philip’s War” (Rowlandson, 72). Mary Rowlandson’s experience would be a horrific and almost death experience. She and her family would be attacked in Lancaster and taken captive by the Natives. Rowlandson considers the Indians as savages and would rather be killed then taken with them. Her view of the Natives is unpleasant and she has no desire for their kind. At one point in the writing she speaks of them as, “Barbarous Creatures” (Rowlandson, 75). The Native Americans were unpredictable and many of her family members would die. Like her fellow Puritans she had strong religious beliefs. Throughout her captivity Rowlandson relied on prayer and God to protect and see she survived. Giving him the glory in returning her back to her husband/family and civilization. From her book, “travel with them into the vast and desolate Wilderness, I knew not whither. It is not my tongue, or pen can express the sorrows of my heart and bitterness of my spirit, that I had at this departure: but God was with me, in a wonderfull manner, carrying me along, and bearing up my spirit, that it did not quite fail” (Rowlandson, 75). Bradford and Rowlandson are prime examples of American Puritan literary authors. Their books have brought grand knowledge to the relationships between Puritans and Native Americans. There are many differences between each of their writings. The time line and occurrences between King Philip, Europe, and the church would impact the relationship of the Natives from Bradford to Rowlandson. Bradford experienced a time of suffrage when first settling in the New England colonies. Conflicts arose at first between the Indians, but the tables were turned and they were of a great gain and help to the Puritans. They would work alongside one another, learning from one another, and sharing one another’s’ heritage. Rowlandson would undergo captivity and cruelty with the Native Americans. In it all one thing held true of the Puritans and that was their beliefs. Even when the relationship between the Native Americans was unstable and hard the Puritans were devoted to prayer and God. They each carried high value in letting God be their guide. They trusted in him to carry out any conflicts or situations in the New World and their time spent with the Indians.

Works Cited
Works Cited
PBS. God in America . 11 October 2010. http://www.pbs.org/godinamerica/people/puritans.html

Rowlandson, Mary. “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson.” The American Tradition in Literature. Vol. 2, 12th ed. Eds. George Perkins and Barbara Perkins. Boston: McGraw Hill. Creat eText. http://create.mcgraw-hill.com.

Bradford, William. “Of Plymouth Plantation Book I, Book II.”
The American Tradition in Literature. Vol. 2, 12th ed. Eds. George Perkins and Barbara Perkins. Boston: McGraw Hill. Creat eText. http://create.mcgraw-hill.com.

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