Puritan and Powhatan Dilemmas

In the story of John Winthrop by Edmund Morgan and Pocahontas by Camilla Townsend, the word dilemma is thrust at the center and is the driving force for these biographies. Using the word dilemma suggests there is a conflict and one must make decisions and/or choose a particular side. This most certainly is the case for both John Winthrop’s Puritans and Powhatan. Edmund Morgan uses the title The Puritan Dilemma because the whole idea of the Puritans establishing themselves in America is itself a dilemma. Dilemma is used in Camilla Townsend’s title Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma because the situation that Pocahontas’s people, the Powhatan, are forced into is very much so a dilemma. The word was chosen with a purpose and the reasons for why both authors use dilemma in their biography titles is explored individually and then compared. The dilemma of John Winthrop and the Puritans is depicted throughout the biography. It is clear that the dilemma they faced was surrounded by their religious views. Winthrop and the Puritans embraced religion so much as to move to New England and create the “kind of society that God demanded of all His servants but that none had yet given Him (Morgan, 42).” Morgan puts a lot of effort to show the reader that the Puritan view of religion was plagued with the idea and question of what responsibility does a religious person owe to society. Morgan argues that this question and dilemma that Winthrop and the Puritans faced is in fact the reason for the struggles and accomplishments the Massachusetts Bay Company experienced in their attempt to create a new society. Morgan wants the reader to believe that the Puritan dilemma was just as important as any other conflict by stating what the Massachusetts Bay Company meant to Winthrop. When writing of Winthrop, he says “ Having learned to use the good things that God gave man, he had reached out to strike down the evils that God forbade, and in doing so found that he must save England herself (Morgan, 43).” Morgan’s claim that Winthrop believes his new found society in New England is the only hope for England only heightens the significance of the dilemma. It would mean that anything not done in God’s favor is opposed to England and God himself. In fact, this idea was put to use when the colony was established and rules were set forth by the governing body and church. Winthrop and the Puritans struggled to determine who would run the church and government and who would make laws since “power lay unchallenged in their hands (Morgan, 81)” and all had to be done according to the bible. Morgan urges us to go inside the mind of John Winthrop when making governing decisions. He says “There was no doubt in Winthrop’s mind that God intended civil governments to be in the hands of men like himself (Morgan, 81).” Winthrop most certainly juggled with the idea of doing what was right in God’s eyes and whether or not abuse power. The fact that Winthrop had to find a neutral place to identify right from wrong governing powers is most definitely the epitome of a dilemma and is justified with the examples of struggle and conflict Morgan presents. However, almost all of the conflict Morgan presents occurs within the mind of John Winthrop. Since there was no template for the Puritans before Winthrop, almost everything that the colony established was new; and Winthrop made decisions throughout his career as a governor nearly untested. It was in the mind of John Winthrop that the conflict took place between what was good and what was evil which may be presented as the dilemma of the puritans. The clash of two cultures is never more pure in Camilla Townsend’s biography of Pocahontas. England and Native American views are thrusts onto the arena of North America through the eyes of the Powhatan people and English visitors intent on staying in the new land. Unlike romantic stories of John Smith and Pocahontas, Townsend’s biography sheds light on the confusion and conflict the Powhatan Indians faced in 17th century America. It is important to note that the dilemma that the Indians experienced in early colonization was simple but extremely strong. Although Townsend does not portray it as simple, the general idea is that the Indians were stuck in an area where they had to choose to accept and cooperate with the English or fight and flee to the woods. To imagine the emotions that the Indians experienced is difficult to express, however, Townsend gives the reader enough background and interpretation of thoughts to develop an interest in and care for the Indians. In the beginning of the novel, Camilla makes an effort to display the English consistency when she says “Despite their failed ventures, the English never gave up on settlement (Townsend, 32).” The idea that the English pushed persistently to take over the new land is seen throughout the biography and helps to solidify Townsend’s use of dilemma. It simply means that the English never left America once they set foot on the land and the dilemma that the Indians found themselves in of whether or not to help or fight the English continued to grow. Townsend presents a dilemma in a smaller context when describing Pocahontas’s father, Powhatan’s experiences with the English. When an altercation, one of many, between Powhatan and Lord De La Warr, an English governor, erupted, the English “launched raids against villages, killing and burning houses and crops (Townsend, 98).” The English did not do this out of spite, but rather because “Indians harassed them (Townsend, 98).” Camilla Townsend most likely wants the reader to understand that both the Indians and English caused each other a great deal of harm and most of the time it was because both sides could not agree on corn and weapons/tool trades. Not only does Townsend highlight the conflicts of Powhatan and his people but she also gives the reader Pocahontas’s dilemma. Although there are no exact quotes and thoughts from Pocahontas herself, the reader receives a good idea of what Pocahontas’s intentions were from Townsend’s interpretation of a certain situation. Townsend says that Powhatan most likely needed more information about the English and “With Pocahontas’s marriage, he had the opportunity to send a veritable delegation (Townsend, 137).” By having Pocahontas marry an Englishman and live in English it would give Powhatan much needed information about English technology and population. However, this most definitely left Pocahontas with a choice: risk the lives of her people by not marrying an Englishman and live in England or help her people by marrying. In this sense, Pocahontas can be seen as noble and unselfish and which seems to be the platform for Hollywood movies. Rather it is only a claim by Townsend who goes on to say that Pocahontas’s true intentions are not known. Both biographies are similar in a sense that a group of people face challenges and must make decisions in spite of the struggles, conflict, and confusion that their causes present. However, the Puritan dilemma and Powhatan dilemma have their differences. The dilemma that the Powhatan Indians faced was thrust upon them whereas the Puritan dilemma was thrust upon them by themselves. Camilla Townsend’s biography would not have been written in the first place if the English had not attempted to colonize Indian land. The Indians were not looking for new land, friends to make, or people to control. They simply were living a seminomadic life in a land that belonged to them. Violence, colonization, and confusion only erupted when the English arrived. This view makes English colonization appear inhuman but it is the truth and because of this, the Powhatan dilemma was brought on by outside sources. Unlike the Powhatan dilemma, John Winthrop and the Puritans were looking for a new society and found confusion with the responsibility that a religious person owes to society. The fact that they traveled to a new land in search of a better place to control the evils of mankind means that they chose their destiny. By doing so, the conflicts they faced and the struggles they experienced were brought on by themselves. The comparison between the Puritan and Powhatan dilemmas does not take away from the courage and discipline both peoples conducted themselves with during their time in history. In fact, it can be argued that both Morgan and Townsend’s decision to use dilemma in the title is a perfect representation of the situation the Puritans and Powhatan Indians experienced. A dilemma is defined as a problem offering two possibilities and in this sense a dilemma is choosing which sports drink to buy. The only thing that is important about the Puritan and Powhatan dilemmas is that they shaped the course of our history.