Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647

When the 1623 elections come around, the Pilgrims decide to expand the number of government officials to accommodate the growing size of the colony. Nevertheless, maintaining order proves increasingly challenging, in part because some of the private settlers begin to encourage the "weaker members of the colony" (88) to join them in establishing a new settlement. However, when Bradford offers these Pilgrims the same terms the private settlers enjoy, most decline.

The Pilgrims also continue to have difficulties with their financial backers. A ship returning from England brings supplies and a fishing vessel as well as letters from Cushman and James Sherley warning the Pilgrims that some of the investors are turning against the enterprise. Their concerns are based on the testimony of settlers who have returned to England, whom Bradford says later prove "so confounded that some confessed, and others denied what they had said and ate their words" (91). Nevertheless, Bradford attaches the investors' list of objections, which primarily concern the lack of formal religious services in Plymouth and the colony's climate and conditions. One particularly contentious point is the "want of both the sacraments [of baptism and communion]" (91), which the Pilgrims say would not be an issue if their pastor Robinson were allowed to join them. As two letters from Robinson make clear, however, divisions among the investors make the prospect of raising the funds necessary for his voyage unlikely. Nevertheless, Robinson continues to counsel his congregation from a distance, warning them against seeking conflict with the local tribes.

Despite these difficulties, the colony itself is running more smoothly by 1624. Famine is no longer a problem, which Bradford attributes to changes in the Pilgrims' system of farming—like allocating permanent land holdings to settlers. The colony also profits from the arrival of a ship-builder who constructs several boats for the Pilgrims before falling ill and dying. Nevertheless, other incoming settlers prove troublesome, such as a salt-maker who accomplishes very little but blames the environment and the other settlers for his failures.

Two settlers in particular pose problems for the colony: John Lyford, a minister who recants his earlier beliefs to join the Pilgrims' congregation, and a man named John Oldham—a "stickler in the former faction among the private settlers" (96).Although the Pilgrims welcome both of these men into the fold, Lyford and Oldham quickly begin to stir up discontent in the community. Lyford ultimately attempts to establish a new church, and Bradford responds by bringing both him and Oldham before a court, where he confronts them with letters the Pilgrims have intercepted. These letters lay out Lyford and Oldham's intention to break away from the Pilgrims' congregation, along with justifications for their plan: that the Pilgrims are hostile to any settlers not belonging to their church, that they have attempted to financially sabotage the private settlers, etc.

Oldham and Lyford are both sentenced to expulsion from the colony, but Lyford is first allowed six months' time to reform. However, the Pilgrims soon discover that Lyford has written another letter to the English investors, reiterating his former complaints and recommendations. Ironically, Lyford's actions actually result in the conversion of several of the private settlers since they witness firsthand "Lyford's unjust dealing and malignity" (104).

In the spring of 1624, Oldham attempts to rejoin Plymouth colony with a group of strangers. The Pilgrims forbid this, and Oldham's followers abandon him after witnessing his rude response to the decision. Lyford, meanwhile, is on the verge of being expelled from the colony when his wife comes forward, "fear[ing] some great judgment of God would fall upon the family, because of her husband; and [that] […] she would fall into the Indians' hands and be defiled by them as he had defiled other women" (106). As it turns out, Lyford had a child out of wedlock before marrying his wife, and then continued to have affairs afterwards. Two Pilgrims returning from a trip to England confirm this, explaining that Lyford had "defiled" (107) a young woman while working in Ireland. As a result of these revelations, Lyford is forced to leave Plymouth, first joining Oldham elsewhere in Massachusetts and later traveling to Virginia. Oldham, by contrast, eventually does repent in good faith and lives out the rest of his days "decently" (106), first in Virginia and later in Massachusetts.

The events involving Lyford are the last straw for the investors in England, most of whom cut ties with the Pilgrims entirely. However, a handful of friendly backers write to Plymouth, explaining in more detail that the investors' actions are partly the result of financial losses associated with shipwrecks and partly the result of a "faction" (109) that formed against the Pilgrims. Those who remain committed to the settlement send over a number of supplies for the Pilgrims to purchase, as well as two additional ships for the Pilgrims' own use.

In response to these changes, the Pilgrims at Plymouth send a representative—Captain Standish—over to England to negotiate the interest rates on the supplies, as well as to demand that the investors either release the Pilgrims from their contract or abide by it themselves. Standish is able to raise a bit of money and pave the way for an eventual settlement between the Pilgrims and their backers.

In the meantime, Bradford notes that "it please[s] the Lord to give the plantation peace and health and contented minds, and so to bless their labours that they ha[ve] sufficient corn, and some to spare for others" (111). In addition, a trading expedition eastward brings back several hundred pounds worth of beaver skins.