Question

How did Bradford initially view the Native Americans? Do you think that his first impressions were completely accurate?

Answer 1

He viewed them as savages and heathens who were cruel, brutal, merciless to their victims, and dishonest and treacherous to their friends. He shortly describes how they tortured, mutilated, flayed their enemies. Of course, these impressions were deeply biased. The Pilgrims were Christians who disregarded any non-Christian, indigenous people. At the time, they couldn't understand that they were perceived as foreign invaders, and treated as such by the Native Americans.