Compare And Contrast William Bradford And John Winthrop

William Bradford vs. John Winthrop

William Bradford came from a modest background in which he taught himself the arts of farming. As a teenager, despite his family’s opposition, he joined the Separatists and moved to the Netherlands. Shortly after, the group chartered land in the Americas and set sail. He was among the group of Separatists/Puritans that was aboard the Mayflower and received the opportunity to sign the Mayflower Compact. William Bradford was the governor of the Plymouth Colony settlement for many years. As governor, he built his community on religious tolerance of others in the community. In contrast, John Winthrop came from a wealthy background in which he received an education from Cambridge University. Unlike Bradford, Winthrop

It was in God’s will that they were to settle in Massachusetts instead of Virginia. Bradford’s belief played a huge role in the idea of Manifest Destiny. He believed that God intended for them to inhabit and colonize the New World from shore to shore.

On a religious note, Bradford reckoned that each individual knew not whether he or she was saved so self-reflection was required. He believed that individuals were personally responsible for encountering the scripture, reading it correctly, and living by God’s word. Bradford was a strong believer that evil-doers suffered and were destroyed, while good people suffered as a trial for God. An example of this would be Bradford’s account of witnessing God’s true power over a young man onboard the Mayflower. According to

If the time and occasion be ordinary, he is to give out of his abundance. Let him lay aside as God hath blessed him. If the time and occasion be extraordinary, he must be ruled by them; taking this withal, that then a man cannot likely do too much, especially if he may leave himself and his family under probable means of comfortable subsistence. (Winthrop, P. 93)

This quote conveys the fact that we must judge when the time is appropriate to give and exactly how much should be given unto the needy.

Winthrop approached his audience with the idea that we should show love and affection towards our brothers. According to Winthrop:

We must be knit together in this work as one man. We must entertain each other in brotherly affection, we must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities, for the supply of other’s necessities. We must delight in each other, make other’s conditions our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, our community as members of the same body. (Winthrop, P.