I have never been one that had much interest in history. While it serves its purpose in providing insight it always repeats itself as often stated. George Santayana described history as “nothing but assisted and recorded memory,” as well as something “condemned to [be] repeat[ed]” if past mistakes were not taken into account for future dealings. For the most part, humans have learned a great deal from the past but pick and choose when to properly utilize that knowledge, when to remain stagnant, and when to forget lessons learned entirely. Reading William Bradford’s history of Plimoth Plantation however, helped me remember the incredible endurance God imparted in the human spirit and reaffirmed how He always leads His people to victory after …show more content…
After forming relations with some of the Native Americans they once considered savages, they learned how to hunt for food, plant crops, and start thriving off the land. The population increased, sickness went away, and they even began to trade fur with the Europeans although it was not very profitable. Though they were beginning to makes strides of success in their growing colony, there was still much turmoil in their community. Since their colony exercised great religious tolerance, it eventually became a breeding ground for sin. Bradford, who had been governor for some time now, described the battles he faced at every turn. There were issues regarding how to adequately enforce the laws, problems determining how the government would be properly ran, and coexisting amongst ungodly people. More importantly, Bradford’s mention of the “youth whose name is Thomas Granger” who was “detected (and indicted) for buggery” (p. 474-475) with various mammals paints a very vivid picture that their colony was essentially a petri dish for ungodliness. Bradford probably thought he was living in modern day Sodom and Gomorrah. The disgust he portrayed in writing these events only shined light on some of the overwhelming challenges that they faced within their community over the