William Bradford Research Paper

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Throughout history many historians study and use written accounts from the past. William Bradford was one of the people they use.His life as a youth was very difficult. Having to deal with death of family members and his constant sickness. He became a believer and followed the Separatist of the Church. William Bradford was one of the passengers on the Mayflower.
William Bradford was born in 1590 in a small farm community in Austerfield, Yorkshire. When William was a year old his father passed away. After his dad’s passing he lived with his grandfather William, until he passed away. William was only six years of age. A year later his mother Alice passed away. After his closest family members were deceased, he and his sister Alice were then orphaned …show more content…

He was really sick when he was young. By the age of 12 he had started reading the bible and became part of ministry of Richard Clyfton and John Smith. When William Bradford became eighteen, he joined a group of Separatist that left England in fear of persecution. His family was not supportive of that decision at all. After a year he traveled with his church to a couple different towns, Leiden and Holland. They lived their for the following eleven years. In 1613 Bradford returned to Amsterdam for a while to marry his very young 16 year-old bride Dorothy May. William and his new wife moved to Leiden. Bradford took up work as a silk weaver to make ends meet. He was also able to recover some of the estate in England his father left behind, which helped to support him and Dorothy. They had a son named John Bradford. He was born sometime between …show more content…

It became the foundation of the Plymouth government. John Carver was the first governor of the town Plymouth. He was governor until the following year when he passed away in April 1621. William was the elected as governor, he was re-elected almost every year after. He re-married in 1623 to a widow Alice Southworth. He had a marriage feast that was considered to be the “First Thanksgiving” with Massasoit and a large number of other Indians joining. They brought turkeys and deer to share at the feast. They had three children together. The children’s names were William Bradford, Mercy Bradford, and Joseph Bradford. They lived to adulthood and married. William Bradford's son from his first marriage and two children from Alice's first marriage were part of the Bradford household, as were two sons of deceased friends. He had a total of eight kids living with him and his wife in Plymouth. He was a baby making

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