The Journals of John Smith & William Bradford
If one looks down the lineup of the explorers who colonized America, one is met
with wildly difference faces staring out of the pages of their journals and accounts. Two
of these men that one encounters through reading the exploration narratives and journals
are William Bradford and John Smith. William Bradford was a pilgrim who came across
on the Mayflower and John Smith was a heroic captain on the voyage to the New World
in 1607 to Jamestown. Their situations are so unalike, they’re almost similar, and the
same could be said about the ways they chose to write their accounts, John Smith’s
General History of Virginia and William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation.
The tone of the account of John Smith is one of confusion, anger, and skepticism
with a fierce yearning for adventure mixed in. Bradford wrote in a more thankful,
determined tone – a very Christian attitude toward the hardships with which he met. Both
men spoke of the natives in a similar manner, a tone of harshness and skepticism until
they were saved – by Pocahontas or Squanto, take your pick – and their tone softened and
became one of gratitude, or at the very least one of mild appreciation and interest. John
Smith’s voyage was ill planned and became far too difficult and long for what they had
planned upon, and his attitude toward the Europeans who had planned the trip was one of
anger and disdain, while Bradford did not speak ill of the European craftsmen who made
the Mayflower even after it was nearly stopped right out of the gate by fierce storms. It is
evident that William Bradford could deal with changes much easier than John Smith
could.
The imagery used in both accounts is very different. John Smith is writing as a
man who is writing a report, perhaps even hoping to one day have one of his higher ups
read his journal and decide if they want to fund another colony. He is also a man who is
presumably less educated than William Bradford, though one cannot be certain without
doing research, so his way of describing things is a lot less formal than Bradford’s. For
example, Smith uses the phrase “beat his brains out” to describe how the Indians were
going to kill him, whereas Bradford uses phrases that are beautiful and powerful, like
“roaring breakers” or “savage barbarians.” William Bradford is writing in his journal
with little to no excess descriptions as it is more just a personal escape and a hope for his
name to last through the years, while John Smith describes everything in great detail,
even telling us that their stores of barley had “as many worms as grains.”
Both explorers go through similar cycles in their perspectives toward certain
things. The two men shared the same view of the natives and of the whole ordeal and new
world they’ve been dropped in. Toward the Indians, they both seemed to think of them as
“savages” at first, but then came to regard them as somewhat of an invaluable tool. John
Smith was saved by a native, and Bradford’s entire settlement was saved by Squanto’s
help and kind advice. Toward their situation as a whole, and toward their colonies, both
writers seem to have something of a grim determination about them, almost as though
they think that the place has potential once you sift through the worms, rotten food, and
sickness. Though they were both in very different situations, they shared very similar
views.