FREE ESSAY ON IDEALISM

IDEALISM

How do Primary Source Documents Mirror the Ideals of a Society? The attitudes and beliefs
of aparticular time period are reflected in first hand documents, purposely and
inadvertently through thebiases and ideals of the authors of the pieces. The arrogant
self-serving attitude of the first colony isreflected in Captain John Smith's, "The
General History of Virginia." The Puritans holier-than-thouideals are reflected in the
essay by William Bradford, "Of Plymouth Plantation." Finally the fear ofthe unknown by
the colonists is shown in Cotton Mather's reflection on the Salem Witch Trials,
"TheWonders of the Invisible world." In all of the documents, the biases and believes of
the authors showthe attitudes of the people at the time. Captain John Smith epitomizes
the self-serving attitude of thefirst colony in his essay, "The General History of
Virginia." Smith is not interested in what people inhis time think of his writing. His
work is written so future generations will see Captain John Smith (herefers to himself in
third person) as a hero. According to Smith it was entirely his doing that thecolony was
established. He says, "The New President and Martin, being little beloved, of
weakjudgment in dangers, and less industry in peace, committed the managing of all things
abroad toCaptain Smith...," meaning that the President is weak and inferior to himself,
and goes on to say,"...who by his own example, good words, and fair promises...himself
always bearing the greatesttask for his own share..." Feeling that he was responsible for
the survival of the colony, Smith showshis attitude of self promotion. This was the
belief of many people of the time who wanted to beremembered. Smith does not take all the
credit for his work. He believes that God is helping him.The Indians did not help Smith
by their own accord, "But almighty God (by his divine providence)had mollified the hearts
of those stern savages."(Smith) Again his feeling of superiority shows when,he believes
the Indians are not human enough to act with out the help of God. Smith believes thatGod
is solely on his side. The Puritans, who believed God had chosen them to be the ones who
getto enter heaven, also believed they were above everyone else. In William Bradford's
essay, "OfPlymouth Plantation," he exemplifies the belief that the Puritan colony as a
complete entity (ratherthan Smith who promoted only himself) is superior. In their own
self-righteousness, the Puritans feltthat non-Puritans, "did not deserve help at their
hands," but gave it to prove themselves better thanothers. Rather than doing deeds that
would promote them in their own life time, the Puritans workedfor the afterlife. They all
believed that since God choose them, all that they had to do to get intoheaven was to
live pure lives. Bradford is not as hostile towards the Indians-he does not refer tothem
as savages-as Smith, but as with Smith, Bradford believes that the Indians were
"specialinstrument[s] sent of God for their good..." The Puritan people were bias towards
all non-Puritans,not necessarily on purpose, but more inadvertently by their religious
teachings. The Puritans also helda fear of the unknown. They believed that the devil was
a physical being who lived in the forest. Hecohorts were witches who did his evil
bidding. Anything unusual that happened in the community wasattributed to witchcraft.
"The Wonders of the Invisible World," by Cotton Mather shows the trial ofone such witch
by the name of Martha Carrier. The claims of the people in the trial seem to begrossly
exaggerated as to make a stronger case against Cather. Claims such as, "several gallons
ofcorruption," running from a wound and, "he could thrust a knitting needle into his
wound four inchesdeep," show the exaggeration used to convict suspected witches. The
victims (those accused ofwitchcraft) were generally those who, such as Martha Cather,
were not upstanding members of thePuritan community. Mather sums up the Puritan
intolerance for members of the community who arenot upstanding in his memorandum, "This
rampant had, Martha carrier, was the person of whom theconfessions of the witches and of
her own children among the rest agreed that the devil hadpromised her she should be queen
of Hell." Anything that was not understood was attributed towitchcraft during the early
years of America in the Puritan colonies. This showed the fear and lack ofunderstanding
of the world the Puritans had. Primary documents give excellent insight into
thelifestyles of the period in which they are written. The biases expressed by the
authors show thefeelings of the time. Different people of the same time share different
believes (i.e. the Puritanscompared to John Smith). Much can be gained through the study
of primary documents of a timeperiod; the unique nature of primary source material is a
superb way to get a true feel for the peopleof a certain time period.