over which he ruled almost continuously until his death, thirty-seven
years later.

Bradford's success lay first in his courage in doing away with the
pernicious system by which all the property was held in common. In doing
this, he violated the rules of his company, but he saw that utter
failure lay the other way. He divided the colony's land among the
several families, in proportion to their number, and compelled each
family to shift for itself. The communal system had nearly wrecked
Jamestown and would have wrecked Plymouth had not Bradford had the
courage to disregard all precedent and make each family its own
provider. Years afterwards, in commenting on the results of this
revolutionary change, he wrote, "Any general want or suffering hath not
been among them since to this day."

And, indeed, this was true. Under Bradford's guidance, the little colony
increased steadily in wealth and numbers, and became the sure forerunner
of the great Puritan migration of 1630, which founded the colony of
Massachusetts, into which the older colony of Plymouth was finally
absorbed. Of Bradford himself, little more remains to be told. The
establishment of Plymouth Plantation was his life work. He was a far
bigger man than most of his contemporaries, with a broader outlook upon
life and deeper resources within himself. One of these was a literary
culture which fairly sets him apart as the first American man of
letters. He wrote an entertaining history of his colony, as well as a
number of philosophical and theological works, all marked with a style
and finish noteworthy for their day.

* * * * *