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William Bradford

Type Figure Region England Time 1590–1657 Also known as William Bradford、Governor Bradford

William Bradford, political and administrative leader of the Mayflower Pilgrims, served as Plymouth Colony secretary and repeatedly as governor after…

Timeline

  1. 1590–1608Austerfield, West Yorkshire · YorkshireBorn in Yorkshire, England, he joined the Brownist separatist movement in his youth and around 1608 followed the congregation to Leiden in the Netherlands.
  2. 1609–1620Leiden · LeidenHe worked in textile labor in Leiden and helped organize emigration to North America; between 1617 and 1620, with Carver, Brewster, and others, he pushed for a contract with London merchants, and in July 1620 departed the Netherlands for England to board ship.
  3. 1621–1657Plymouth · PlymouthHe signed the Mayflower Compact in 1620 and served as colony secretary; after Carver's death in 1621 he was elected governor and thereafter reelected many times. He conducted diplomacy with Indian leaders such as Massasoit and wrote Of Plymouth Plantation between 1630 and the 1650s.

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