Critical Analysis Paper: By Comparison and Contrast of the Early Settlements

To most Americans especially schoolchildren, the term "colonist" stimulates images of strong Pilgrims setting sail on the Mayflower or Arbella to land in the America’s—an impressive legend of hard-work and purpose. The records of John Smith, William Bradford, and John Winthrop, testify that in most cases the images evoked are true.

Records have indicated that the main difference between the adventures of the Jamestown settlers and those of the pilgrims lies in the background of the settlers themselves. The settlers of Jamestown were gentleman who lacked labor skills and thought that they would find riches upon arrival. They did not know how to grow crops or hunt. The recorded accounts of John Smith clearly indicate that these men were not prepared to work and did not want to work, because in England they had been businessmen. Unlike the settlers of Jamestown, the Pilgrims who set sail in the Mayflower and Arbella were skilled, hardworking, and self-disciplined. In addition, it is important to note that unlike the settlers of 1607, they settled as families for the most part.

Records have also shown that differences are found behind the motives for the creation of each settlement.

The first permanent settlement founded by the Virginia Company at Jamestown was purely an economical venture. The settlers had made their great venture in hopes of finding riches such as gold, silver, and natural good to use for the good of England. Plymouth colony was settled by separatists from the Church of England who wanted to avoid religious persecution Massachusetts Bay Colony was settled by the Puritans for the same reasons. The aim was to start a new beginning in their colony away from England and her rule.

It is with these differences in goal and reasoning that different governments were laid in each settlement. William Bradford’s sourcebook on Plymouth and John Winthrop’s model of government for the Massachusetts Bay Colony both indicate the theocracy behind these two settlements, but also the well organization of government. This vast difference is clearly indicated by comparing the setting up of a government in Plymouth and Jamestown. Plymouth was governed in accordance with the terms of the famous "Mayflower Compact," an agreement binding all to conform to the will of the majority. This agreement was established well before their landing on the colony. However, in the case of the Jamestown settlement no prior agreement between the settlers is accounted for. In their case, the orders of government and the governor were not declared until the settlers’ arrival in Virginia. This indicates that the common values and goals behind the Pilgrims is what aided them in times of hardships and despair. Although discontent and mutinous speeches were sometimes accounted for in the early beginnings of the Plymouth settlements as indicated in Winthrop’s records; the problems were dealt with and the unity was almost