The story of William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation is nearly as interesting as the story Bradford tells in his foundational historical document. The original manuscript went missing from its place in Boston sometime following the Revolutionary War. Fortunately, everything through Chapter IX had previously been transcribed into a copy held among the church records of Plymouth. Everything from Chapter X onward, however, was assumed to be lost forever until one providential day in London when a British bishop discovered the original manuscript in its entirety. The book was subsequently published in 1856. It would not be until 1897, however, that Bradford’s account was finally returned to its homeland.
As for the history contained within the volume itself, Of Plymouth Plantation represents a historical account recorded by Bradford over a two-decade period. Bradford himself spent thirty years as Governor of Plymouth and the result of his effort to provide a detailed personal reporting—never actually intended for publication—became instrumental in providing insight into some of the most iconic moments of early colonial history, ranging from the landing of Mayflower at Cape Cod to the first Thanksgiving. Reading Bradford’s history presents students with a stunning—and not always altogether flattering—disconnect between reality and the myths which arose from the facts.
For instance, that world-changing anchoring of the Mayflower on November 11, 1620 did not feature a rock of any sort. “Plymouth Rock” was an unknown and unmentioned aspect of the New World until almost a century later. In addition, the actual landing of the Mayflower on what came to be known as Plymouth Rock is revealed through reading Bradford’s account as one that is a far cry from the standard depiction in art and cinema: the landing did not involve the Mayflower itself, but a small dinghy on which there were no women and which was not greeted by any “Indians.”
The history Of Plymouth Plantation follows the various travails, hardships, indignities, triumphs and stories of the founding of a nation up to 1646.
