William Bradford Informational Paper: Religion In The Separatist's Life

October 16th 2014
William Bradford Informational Paper The Separatists’ relied very heavily on religion when they came to America. Religion guided the lives of the Separatists in both their private and public concerns. Religion was a major factor in the way that the Separatists’ lived their private lives. There are many prime examples of this seen before the Separatists’ even reached America. As seen in Desperate Crossing there was robust young sailor that was very rude to everyone on the ship. He was not one of the Separatists’, he was one of the strangers or indentured servants that came along. He would throw buckets of water on everyone and laugh and curse the people of the ship. This sailor was the first one to get sick and die out of everyone on
the ship.
Bradford saw this as an act of God. That the young sailor’s curses lighted his own head. Meaning he got what he deserved for being mean to everyone. Also, later on in the voyage there was a time of illness and sickness. The sick became very weak and would have died without help. It was known that if one were interact with a sick person that they are more likely to get sick but Bradford and the Separatists’ believed that God controlled who got sick and who stayed well. So those who were well did not hesitate to help the ill because If god wanted them to get sick, than they would get sick. The Separatists’ found even more belief in God in this because everyone got sick except for the 3 most important people. Those people being William Bradford, Myles Standish, and William Bruister. (Blake, Desperate Crossing) Then there was the issue of approaching Pollock’s Rip. The
ship was headed right towards a dangerous bit of ocean where many ships crash. Then out of nowhere a mighty wind came and blew the ship north away from Pollock’s Rip. (Bradford) The Separatists’ saw his as God rewarding them for following him. Religion controlled the public concerns of the Separatists’ just as much. This can be seen in the creation of The Mayflower Compact. They believed that King James was placed on the throne by God, so if they were to disobey him they would be disrespecting God as well. So even though technically the Separatists’ were not on land owned by England, they still followed English law. Another way to see how much the Separatists’ valued religion is to look how educated they all were. Education was very important to the Separatists’. One of the first things they did when they set up their town was build a school. They then went on to build one of the first Universities. Because they had to be educated in order to read the bible, thereby avoiding Satan. Just look at Bradford and you can see that he is very intelligent in the way he references biblical stories. In conclusion, the Separatists’ believed that everything that happened to them, both in their private lives and public affairs was controlled by an all knowing, all powerful God. There is evidence of this all throughout William Bradford’s writing and can be seen in the film Desperate Crossing.