The works of authors William Bradford and Anne Bradstreet are currently read in high school and college classrooms with the hope of the readers finding a glimpse into colonial American life. While these works do show pieces of colonial American life, both authors dealt heavily with the nature of providence and predestination, which was a huge part of the lifestyle of that time. William Bradford took a more straightforward approach of his thoughts, writing the work entitled “Of Plymouth Plantation,” which deals with the Puritans landing in Plymouth and the colonization of the land. Anne Bradstreet, however, took a more artistic approach, creating poetry to describe her thoughts of providence. While both authors are extremely different on the surface, they have the same subject running through the heart of their works; they believe that each person is already selected by God to go to Heaven, and there is no way that works could change God’s selection.
William Bradford was with the first group of Puritans that made the daring voyage from England to America. Though there were many problems getting to America, Bradford believed that every problem arose for a reason. Bradford said that “…these and many other sharper things which afte
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” Bradford believed that the illnesses that the Puritans brought with them were also acts of providence. /It was His own, it was not mine, /Far be it that I should repine” which demonstrates that even though all of her possessions were gone-the preface of this poem was that it was copied onto a loose paper-she still praises God and says that the burning was just in God’s eyes. /’O heal my soul’ Thou know’st I said, /’Though flesh consume to nought, /What though in dust it shall be laid, /To glory t’ shall be brought. Her poem “The Flesh and the Spirit” shows an argument between the personified human flesh and human spirit. We know what we know because of what was written down. Even though the two writers are different in style and technicalities, they both focus on God and his providence. ” Bradford strongly believed that whatever troubles befell his group could only be helped by the constant knowledge of God’s grace and divinity.
On the ship that was carrying Bradford to America, a young woman named Anne Bradstreet was also on board. She is basically saying that there is no need for the sun or the moon, because the glory of God is far brighter than either one. A common struggle that arises within individuals is whether a person should follow what the world is saying (the Flesh) or what their own religion is saying (the Spirit). Of this, Bradford wrote that “For it pleased God to visit these Indians with a great sickness and such a mortality that of a thousand, above nine and a half hundred of them died, and many of them did rot above ground for want of burial. While in her later works Bradstreet becomes more in touch with her feelings, her earlier works praise God and the idea of predestination. ” She is not talking just about her illness in this passage, she is talking about her soul and God's grace to save her from Hell by making her one of His elect. Even while her house was burning down, she praised God. Bradstreet is presenting two very different sides of the same topic of religion, but she ultimately favors the arguments of the spirit, saying that “Nor sun, nor moon, they have no need, /For glory doth from God proceed.
Approximate Word count =
1990
Approximate Pages =
8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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