One of the leaders of colonial America, Bradford arrived at Cape Cod on November 11, 1620, on the flagship Mayflower. He was one of the authors of The Mayflower Compact. His greatest contribution to early writing is his History of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647.

Primary Works

History of Plymouth Plantation. Edited by Charles Deane in Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 4^th series, no. 2 (1856); republished as Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647, edited by Samuel Eliot Morison (New York: Knopf, 1959.)

Mourt's Relation. A journal by William Bradford and Edward Winslow. Edited by Henry Martyn (New York: Garrett Press, 1969).

William Bradford: The Collected Verse. Edited by Michael G. Runyan (St. Paul: John Colet Press, 1974).

Selected Bibliography

Baker, William A. The Mayflower and other colonial vessels. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute P, 1983. VM383 .M348 B34

Bradford, E. F. "Conscious Art in Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation." New England Quarterly, 1 (April 1928): 133-157.

Brown, Thomas H. "Predetermining Interpretation: William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation." Weber-Studies, 12:2 (Spring-Summer 1993): 111-16.

Commager, Henry Steele. Documents of American History. 9th Edition. NY: Appleton-Century-Crofts , 1973. E173 .C66

Daly, Robert. "William Bradford's Vision of History." American Literature, 44 (January 1973): 557-569.

Gunn, Giles, ed. Early American Writing. New York: Penguin Books, 1994.

Gay, Peter. A Loss of Mastery: Puritan Historians in Colonial America. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966.

Grabo, Norman S. "William Bradford: Of Plymouth Plantation." Landmarks of American Literature. Ed. Hennig Cohen. New York: Basic Books, 1969. 3-19.

Howard, Alan B. "Art and History in Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation." William and Mary Quarterly, third series 28 (April 1971): 237-266.

Langdon-Davies, John. The Mayflower & the Pilgrim Fathers; a collection of contemporary documents. NY: Putnam, 1966. Case / F68 .L3

Laurence, David. "William Bradford's American Sublime." PMLA 102 (1987): 55-65.

Meyer, Isidore S. The Hebrew Exercises of Governor William Bradford. Plymouth: Pilgrim Society, 1973.

Murdock, Kenneth B. Literature and Theology in Colonial New England. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1949.

Ogburn, Floyd Jr. Style as Structure and Meaning: William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation. Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1981.

Runyan, Michael G., ed. William Bradford: The Collected Verse. St. Paul: The John Colet Press, 1974.

Sargent, Mark L. "William Bradford's 'Dialogue' with History." New England Quarterly (September 1992): 389-421.

Shuffelton, Frank. "William Bradford." Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 24: American Colonial Writers, 1606-1734. Ed. Emory Elliott. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1984. 19-28.

Smith, Bradford. Bradford of Plymouth. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1951. F68 .B827

Wenska, Walter P. "Bradford's Two Histories: Pattern and Paradigm in Of Plymouth Plantation." Early American Literature, 13 (Fall 1978): 151-164.

Westbrook, Perry D. William Bradford. Boston: Twayne P, 1978. PS708.B7 Z94

In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain. France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, & etc. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and the advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern parts of Virginia; do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together in a civil body politick, for our better ordering and preservation, and the of the ends aforesaid: and by virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient of the general good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the eleventh of November, in the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland, the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini 1620.

| Top | The 41 Signatories of the Mayflower Compact (alphabetized for this page, this list is available at many websites and in Henry Steele Commager's Documents of American History listed above. The prefix "Mr." was probably used for those who were church separatists; others were called commoners or recruits.):

MLA Style Citation of this Web Page:

Reuben, Paul P. "Chapter 1: Early American Literature to1700 - William Bradford." PAL: Perspectives in American Literature- A Research and Reference Guide. WWW URL: http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap1/bradford.html (provide page date or date of your login).