John Smith and William Bradford were two extremely different people who both established colonies in the new world. However, both men were similar in certain aspects. They were similar in their faith, biases, and position. They were different in their personality, treatment of others, and purpose. One thing that Smith and Bradford had in common was their unyielding faith. Bradford was a puritan; his entire purpose for coming to the Americas was religious. He wrote “and the wind shrinking upon them withal, they resolved to bear up again for the cape and thought themselves happy to get out of those dangers before night overtook them, as by God’s providence they did.” Throughout his perilous journey to the new world, whenever something bad happened it was a reasonless and unmotivated, but any good fortune was caused by God’s divinity. Smith to a lesser extent, was the same way. He announced his deity as “God, the patron of all good endeavors” and he truly believed it. In this time everyone truly believed it, and those who didn’t definitely didn’t tell it. They are also similar as far as their bias is concerned. Smith thought then savage and stupid. His account unveiled, attest to this. When the natives showed mercy, civility, and kindness, he discredited their gestures as the mercy of God. “When God, the patron of all good endeavors, in that desperate extremity so wanted.”
“ But almighty God (by his divine providence had mollified the hearts of those stern barbarians with compassion.” Smith also writes about them as though they were in awe of his skill and they all stood and admired him. He said that the emperor wanted him to make hatchets, beads, etc. because he thought he could make them as well as the native guides as a shield. Bradford had this bias, however not to the extent of Smith. Bradford believed them lower than the civilized, heavily religious puritans. Thinking about the puritans held a bias against almost anyone who wasn’t a puritan. They did leave because they thought Europe was corrupted. Bradford was at least kind to the natives. He even made peace with them. The biggest difference for with the Smith and Bradford would be their personalities. In my opinion Bradford was generous and kind. On the other hand Smith was extremely egotistical. Bradford spent a great portion of his story talking about God whereas Smith was very selfish. Even though Smith and Bradford were in the same time period, merited the same bias, and religion, whet on similar journeys, and had somewhat similar experiences, they are very two different men. William was kind in my opinion and Smith was very selfish
