Bradford - "Of Plymouth Plantation"

Bradford - "Of Plymouth Plantation" http://spider.georgetowncollege.edu/english/coke/bradford.htm

"Neither could they, as it were, go up to the top of Pisgah to view from this wilderness a more goodly country to feed their hopes; for every which way they turned their eyes (save upward to the heavens) they could have little solace or content in respect of any outward objects. For summer being done, all things stand upon them with a weather-beaten face, and the whole country, full of woods and thickets, represented a wild and savage hue. If they looked behind them, there was the mighty ocean which they had passed and was now as a main bar and gulf to separate them from all civil parts of the world."
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Reflection:
They came to America in search of a better life, a better future for their children, braving dangerous seas and uncharted territory. They gave up their former lives and all its' comforts for the sake of their dream, and they encountered a bitter, uncivilized country that tried them at every turn. They had no food to eat and no shelter from the biting cold and the storms that assailed them all too often. They could not go back to England, all they could do was press forward, hoping that in time things would get better. Their perseverence impressed me, but their thinking unnerved me. They made no real attempt to understand the Native Americans' way of life and instead waged a needless war. In addition they gave no consideration to the fat thta they Native Americans' had been living in America for years and they considered it their home. The settlement of the Europeans was seen by the indians as an invasion of their territory, so they protected it. The Europeans came in acting like just because they set foot on the land they own it, when the Native Americans' ancestors had been living their for centuries.

Journal:
The boat was miserable, cold, wet and stormy. Seasickness was a common affliction among the passengers and it was in no way pleasant. We finally reached our new home and we are greeted with savage natives and harsh weather. We have no food or shelter and it is wintertime, meaning that we cannot grow food even if we had the seed. We have had to steal food from the natives, which is in no way honorable but we have no other way to survive. It is wilderness, all of it. We have been thrust from civilization into a savage land intent on our destruction. We will make it our home, this unsympathetic place, and bend it into submission. We will conquer.