(1823-1892) Fishing off the Coast Born into a Quaker family in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, William Bradford was encouraged to go into the family business, a ship outfitters' and dry goods store in New Bedford. Although he obliged his father, he spent more...

William Bradford (Pl. III), a painter of marine and Arctic scenes, arrived in London in May 1871 with two paintings commissioned by James Ashbury (1834--1895), an English yachtsman with a large fortune. Ashbury had come to New York City the year before, entering...

In this essay, Cartelli examines contrasting accounts written by Thomas Morton and Bradford of the controversy surround a maypole at Morton's Ma-re Mount settlement. Cartelli places the accounts in the context of Puritan debates about festive practices and wider concerns about disorder and misrule.

In this essay, Westbrook surveys Bradford's use of varied prose styles and literary devices, including metaphor and irony.

In the essay below, Hovey explores the theological themes of several early colonial histories in order to demonstrate how Bradford follows, adapts, or abandons those themes in his own history. Hovey considers Bradford's literary technique in addition to his theological concerns to explicate his developments in historiography.

Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford is a historical narrative that records historical events and conveys the impact of religion on the people who first came to America. Both the historical and religious illustrations in the narrative provide the reader with reassurance that the events described in the narrative, such as the Puritans' landing in America, actually happened.