William+Bradford

William Bradford Interview
My life in England was busy. I lived in Austerfield, Yorkshire. My father died when I was one year old. I went to live with my grandfather till he died when I was six. At age 17 I was a committed member of the Church of England. I had a dangerous idea to separate from the Church of England. When we learned that king James 1 intended to Torture us, we fled to the Netherlands. We hated the Netherlands. All they thought about was money and fun. We had low pay for long indoor hours, and they had parties on Sunday!! Oh and did i mention that we had horrible job. We all took a daring decision to sail to America.
 * Tell us about your life in England or the Netherlands.**

I got on board the Mayflower to worship God. The voyage was horrible. I got freezing cold and soaking wet. The food was disgusting, hard biscuits, moldy cheese, dried peas. I was all squished together with other people. Those clothes were the only clothes I’d brought. I couldn’t have changed them when they’ve got wet from the storm. During the storm, it was too dangerous to be on the upper decks. So we stayed below. For the first month, we had calm weather on the boat. Then the storm came to the boat in the Atlantic Ocean. The storm winds knocked the boat off course
 * Why did you decide to go to the New World on the Mayflower? What was that voyage like?**

In England the forests were small and we couldn’t hunt, but here in the new world we can. There were bad laws in England, but here in the new world our laws were of our own make. In England there are bridges and here there are not. In England there were little forests but here in the new world there are lots of trees. England had very dirty water, but in the new world there is clean water! The weather here is harsh unlike England were it was mild. In England there was no religious freedom!! Yet in the new world we can worship however we wanted. In England there were huge fields bur here we will have to make our own. The new world is better and worse, but all in all it is a better home than England.
 * How did the land and climate of Plimoth compare to what you were used to in England or the Netherlands?**

William Bradford
 * What was the first year like? What was hardest about adjusting to life in a new place?

The hardest thing to do the first year of the new world was to handle the death of my wife. But, later I got another wife, Alice Carpenter. But the other hardest thing to do the first year was building my house. It was very hard to build my house during the winter. It was very cold during the first winter. Finally my house was built. I was warm. The food was not bad. But, I didn’t like eating corn every meal. I wanted wheat for bread. I wanted milk to drink. Many of my friends got sick and died. I was very sad. I’m very afraid of the Native Americans. I don’t want them attacking me. So I’ll keep an eye out for them. I’ll keep my musket with me.**

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ANOTHER THING WAS THAT THERE WERE NO HOUSES. WE HAD TO BUILD THEM OURSELVES; BY CHOPPING WOOD FROM HOMEMADE AXES WE COULD GET THE WOOD TO MAKE THE HOUSES. THE HOUSES WERE A PAIN TO PUT UP. THEY TOOK A LONG TIME. THE FIRST HOUSE WE MADE WAS THE FORT/TOWN HOLUSE. IT WAS MEANT TO BE A HOUSE THAT EVERYONE COULD STAY IN AND BE FOR VHURCH SERVICES.======

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ANOTHER HARSH THING WAS THAT THERE WERE WILD BESTS THAT WE DID NOT KNOW.WE HEARD THEM HOWL IN THE COLD DAMP NIGHTS, WE DID NOT KNOW HOW TO TAME THEM OR KILL THEM; THEY COULD ATTACK WHEN WE WERE SLEEPING.======

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ONE OF THE WORST CHANGES WAS THE FOOD. WE WERE NOT USED TO THE TYPES OF FOOD THE PEOPLE HERE ATE.THEY HAD STUFF LIKE CORN. THINGS WE WERENT USEDTO OR DIDN’T LIKE.WE COULDN’t HAVE THE WHEAT WE WANTED EITHER, THE INDIANS TOUGHT US HOW TO CATCH FISH AND PLANT CROPS, SO WE WOULD EAT BETTER.====== = =