1590

Austerfield, Yorkshire, England

May 9, 1657

Plymouth Colony

Governor and historian

Portrait: William Bradford. Reproduced by permission of the Bettmann Archive.

"And here is to be noted a special providence of God, and a great mercy to this poor people, that here they got seed to plant them corn the next year, or else they might have starved. . . . "

William Bradford.

William Bradford was the leader of a religious group called the Pilgrims, who embarked on the famous voyage to the New World (the European term for North America and South America) on board the ship Mayflower. In 1620, after landing on the northeast coast of present-day Massachusetts, the Pilgrims established Plymouth Colony. When the first elected governor, John Carver, died, Bradford took his place. As governor, Bradford grappled with a terrible famine (an extreme scarcity of food) and forged relations with local Native Americans. Bradford's time in office is...