Bradford, William. (1590 - 1657).
L i f e
- colonist in the Plymouth colony, New England
- sailed on the Mayflower in 1620
- chief author of the "Mayflower Compact" signed on the ship
- thought the Church of England too thoroughly corrupted to make its purification according to the Puritan ideals possible
- joined the Scrooby group to established a new ‘particular’ church
- the ‘Scooby Church’: their covenant modelled on the one made with Adam and then Abraham, the Scriptures = the highest authority
W o r k
- author of prose and more than 1,000 lines of verse
Of Plymouth Plantation (1646):
- his major work, an account of the New England Mayflower pilgrims
- includes also the text of the Mayflower Compact = an agreement among the 41 adult males who pledged themselves to enact, constitute, and frame laws with reference to the general good of the proposed colony
- emphasised the spiritual life => intended to remind the readers to keep the track of their religious mission
< the Biblical style
Quote
"Having undertaken, for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith and Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the First Colony in the Northern Parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, Covenant and Combine ourselves together into a Civil Body Politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience".
From the "Mayflower Compact" (1620) as recorded in Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation (1646).
Basics
(Picture: Wikipedia Commons).
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Author
William Bradford. (1590 - 1657). American colonist. -
Work
Politician. Governor. Chronicler and poet. -
Genres
Early American prose and poetry.
Literature
Baym, Nina, ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W. W. Norton, 1995.
Bercovitch, Sacvan, ed. The Cambridge History of American Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Cunliffe, Marcus. The Literature of the United States. London: Penguin, 1991.
Lauter, Paul, ed. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Lexington: D. C. Heath, 1994.
McQuade, Donald, gen.ed. The Harper American Literature. New York: Harper & Collins, 1996.
Ruland, Richard, Malcolm Bradbury. Od puritanismu k postmodernismu. Praha: Mladá fronta, 1997.
Vančura, Zdeněk, ed. Slovník spisovatelů: Spojené státy americké. Praha: Odeon, 1979.