Edward
Winslow was
born in Droitwich, England in 1595.
He joined the Separatists, a Puritan
religious
group who were highly critical of the Church of England. They were
followers of Robert Browne, a preacher who thought the Church
of England should abolish bishops, ecclesiastical courts and other
relics of Roman Catholicism such as kneeling
and the use of priestly vestment and altars. The Separatists also
believed that the government was too tolerant towards those who were
guilty of adultery, drunkenness and breaching the Sabbath.
The Separatists, who held their church services in secret, were persecuted
and several members were imprisoned for their activities. The Dutch
government had a reputation for tolerance towards dissenters and in
1608 Bradford and a group of Separatists decided to emigrate to Holland.
Winslow and his friends soon became disillusioned with life in their
new home in Leyden. They could only find low-paid work and they feared
that their children were losing their English identity.
In 1620 Winslow, William Bradford,
John Carver, William
Brewster, and other Separatists based in Holland decided to emigrate
to America. One hundred and two people boarded the Mayflower
and after crossing the Atlantic they decided to settle at a place
they called Plymouth in Massachusetts Bay.
The Separatists established their own government and John
Carver was elected governor of the colony. The plan was for the
pilgrims to live on fish caught from the sea. However, they were not
very successful at this, and by the spring of 1621 half of them had
died of starvation or disease.
When John Carver died in 1621 William
Bradford became the new governor of the colony and appointed Winslow
as his assistant. Winslow who served as a member of the governor's
council (1624-46) was elected as governor in 1633, 1636 and 1644.
He wrote several books about his experiences and religious beliefs
including Good News from New England
(1624), Hypocrisy Unmasked (1646)
and New England's Salamander (1647).
Edward Winslow died at sea while returning from the West Indies in
1655.
(1) William
Bradford,
History of the Plymouth Plantation (1651)
They (the Plymouth settlers)
had no friends to welcome them, no inns to entertain or refresh their
weather-beaten bodies, no houses or much less towns to repair to.
The season was winter, and they that know the winters of this country
know them to be sharp and violent, and subject to cruel and fierce
storms, dangerous to travel to known places, much more to search an
unknown coast. Besides, what could they see but a hideous and desolate
wilderness, full of wild beasts and wild men.
(2)
William
Bradford,
journal (1621)
At times there were but six or seven
strong enough to hunt, cook and care for the entire company. These
men and women at great risk to their own health spared no pains, night
or day.
(3)
Edward Winslow, letter to a
friend in England (1621)
We have found the Indians
very loving. We can walk as peaceably and safely in the woods as in
the highways of England. We entertain them in our houses, and they
give us venison.
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