William Bradford (Mayflower passenger)

**William Bradford** ( 19 March 15909 May 1657) was an English Puritan Separatist originally from the West Riding of Yorkshire in Northern England. He moved to Leiden in the Dutch Republic in order to escape persecution from King James I of England, and then emigrated to the Plymouth Colony on the *Mayflower* in 1620. He was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact and went on to serve as Governor of the Plymouth Colony intermittently for about 30 years between 1621 and 1657. He served as a commissioner of the United Colonies of New England on multiple occasions and served twice as president.  His journal *Of Plymouth Plantation* covered the years from 1620 to 1646 in Plymouth.

## Childhood 
Bradford was born to William and Alice Bradford in Austerfield, Yorkshire, England. His family were farmers.

The Separatists decided to leave England for the Dutch Republic (where religious freedom was permitted). William Bradford went with them. It was illegal to leave England. The group was betrayed by an English sea captain who brought them to the English authorities.

In 1613, Bradford married Dorothy May, the daughter of a rich English couple living in Amsterdam.

They landed on November 21. They wrote the Mayflower Compact, which made rules on how they would live and treat each other. Bradford signed the Mayflower Compact.

### Anchored and first explorations at Plymouth Colony
Up to this time, Bradford, aged 30, had never been a leader in the colony. When the *Mayflower* anchored in the Harbor, the men went out to explore the land for a place where they could live. Bradford volunteered to be a member of the exploration parties. Bradford had no military experience and when he became governor he would come to trust Captain Standish's advice on military matters.

### Early service as governor
On March 16, the settlers had their first meeting with the Native Americans who lived in the region. Samoset, an Indian walked into the village of Plymouth and greeted them in English. Samoset had learned some English from the traders who had visited the area he was from. This soon led to a visit by Massasoit, the leader of the Pokanoket tribe. At that meeting, Massassoit made a treaty with Governor John Carver. The treaty said that they would be friends and protect each other against unfriendly Indians. John was born in Leiden, Holland and died in 1620.

His second wife was Alice Southwarth in Plymouth. They had three children. She died in Plymouth in March 1670 and was buried on Burial Hill in Plymouth near her husband.

## Literary works
Bradford wrote *Of Plymouth Plantation*. It was a history about Plymouth colony. It is often called a journal. It was a collection of what he saw and what he thought was important. This was written in two books. The first book was written in 1630 but the second was never finished. During the years 1646 and 1650, he wrote about the colony's history up to 1646.

In *Of Plymouth Plantation*, Bradford saw what was happening to be like what happened in the Bible. As Philip Gould writes, "Bradford hoped to show the workings of God to future generations." The book was not published until 1656, the year before his death, and it was well liked. Bradford has been called the father of American history. Many American authors have put what Bradford said in their books. Thomas Prence did so in his book named *A Chronological History of New-England in the Form of Annals.* Today it is considered very important and studied in American schools and colleges. Bradford's journal was included in another work entitled ''Mourt's Relation''. This was written in part by Edward Winslow, and made into a book in England in 1622.

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