Entry A: William Bradford

1. In an excerpt from William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation, although the puritans experience hardship in their voyage to America, in their initial arrival and in their dealings with the Indians, they still maintain their reverence to God and one another.

2. "Let them therefore praise the Lord, because He is good: and His mercies endure forever." "Yea, let them which have been redeemed of the Lord, show how He hath delivered them from the hand of the oppressor. When they wandered in the desert wilderness out of the way, and found no city to dwell in, both hungry and thirsty, their soul was overwhelmed in them. Let them confess before the Lord His loving kindness and His wonderful works before the sons of men."

3. In this passage, the puritans just landed ashore. They were glad and praised God for their safe journey across the sea. The only problem was right in front of them; there was nothing there. When they looked ahead and to their sides they saw trees and land and behind them was the sea. The reason why this passage impressed me the most is because when all hope is gone, the puritan's look up to God for salvation and find the strength to survive.

4. Dear Journal (November 1620),
The winds blew furiously and the waves crashed into our ship. We were all freezing cold and our hands and feet were numb. The icy water and cold gusts of winds sent shivers up our spine and made our teeth chatter. We were all relying on God to get us through the journey alive. When thought it couldn't get any worse, a huge wave crashed onto the deck knocked me off my feet. I slid across the deck and fell off the ship. Everything happened in seconds and I didn't even know what was happening. I just flailed my hands around trying to grab something when I caught onto something thin, like a rope. I opened my eyes and there it was, the rope. I tried with all the energy I had left to pull myself back onto the ship, but I couldn't. I was going to die. My eyes slowly started to close and I had lost all hope when I felt a tug. I thought I had just imagined it, but then there was another tug. I looked up and saw some people pull me up. When I got onto the deck, I lied there and praised God for the mercy he has given me. Then everything went black as I fell asleep.