Entry A: William Bradford- Of Plymouth Plantation

Thesis: In an excerpt from William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation, although the Puritans experience hardships in their voyage to America, in their initial arrival and in their dealings with the Indians, they still maintain their reverence to God and to one another [their initial reason for fleeing England].

Favorite Passage: In sundry of these storms the winds were so fierce and the seas so high, as they could not bear a knot of sail, but were forced to hull for divers days together. And in one of them, as they thus lay at hull in a mighty storm, a lusty young man called John Howland, coming upon some occasion above the gratings, was, with a roll of the ship, thrown into sea; but it pleased God that he caught hold of the topsail halyards, which hung overboard and ran out at length. Yet he held his hold (though he was sundry fathoms under water) till he was hauled up by the same rope to the brim of the water, and then with a boat hook and other means got into the ship again and his life saved. And though he was something ill with it, yet he lived many years after and became a profitable member both in church and commonwealth. In all this voyage there died but one of the passengers, which was William But ten, a youth, servant to Samuel Fuller, when they drew near the coast.

Why: This is my favorite passage in William Bradford's writing because of the imagery that makes me feel like I am right there on the ship. It amazes me how John Howland got a hold of the topsails and ended up getting back on board of the ship. As I was reading this passage, I got chills because I can't even imagine being in that situation. It's just incredible how much they trust and believe in their God and how they believe that if you please God, he will make good things happen to you.

Political cartoon:

Due to those who are migrating to the United States for jobs, it is causing people to loose the jobs they already have. For example there are people standing in a line jumping over a fence. This shows that theyh are crossing the boarder to try to go find jobs in Mexico since they lost theirs here in the United States. Another example, is where it says "Bad news, Americans are now doing jobs we used to do." This shows that Mexicans are heading back to Mexico to try to find jobs there since they have lost theres here in the United States since we are so overpopulated. In conclusion, you can see that there are not enough jobs in one place for everyone, so we need to stop the immagration process since it is just causing people to loose their jobs, which is leading to homelessness.