a few ears of corn; yet hunger made others, whom conscience did not
restrain, to venture.”
The guiding ideal of the Pilgrims was to live as a band of brothers, a
community of like-minded people who shared what they had in a sort of
primitive communism; but desperation soon drove them, as it had driven
the settlers at Jamestown, to “set corn every man for his own particular.”
They found, as the people of Jamestown had, that this policy “made all
hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted... [even] the
women now went willingly into the field, and took their little ones with
them to set corn.”
Having to cater to greed was dispiriting to the community leaders;
worse, they perceived a deeply disturbing moral rot in their community.
The most dangerous manifestation was among those who sold arms to
the Indians. One man, Edward Ashley “had for some time lived among
the Indians as a savage and went naked amongst them and used their
manners, in which time he got their language... [and may have] commit-
ted uncleanness with Indian women.” Going over to the Indians was
bad, but far worse was what happened in the colony itself. “Marvelous it
may be to see and consider how some kind of wickedness did grow and
break forth here,” William Bradford wrote. The Pilgrims themselves were
caught engaging in “drunkenness and uncleanness. Not only incontinency
between persons unmarried, for which many both men and women have
been punished sharply enough, but some married persons also. But that
which is worse, even sodomy and buggery (things fearful to name) have
broke forth in this land oftener than once.” Given the Puritans’ need to
plunge honestly to the depths of the transgression, Governor Bradford then
related what must stand as the most remarkable set of sins any religious
community ever witnessed: the case of young Thomas Granger, who was
“this year detected of buggery, and indicted for the same, with a mare, a
cow, two goats, five sheep, two calves and a turkey. Horrible it is to men-
tion, but the truth of the history requires it.”
How, Bradford sadly wondered, could such a thing happen in a com-
munity committed to “preserve holiness and purity”? “I say it may justly be
marvelled at and cause us to fear and tremble at the consideration of our
corrupt natures, which are so hardly bridled, subdued and mortified.”
Early Days in the Colonies 123