Paper Examples on Smith and Winthrop Worldviews

The state of America in early 16th and 17th century was in the worst condition in the sense that the continent posed a threat to human survival. With most areas having not been explored or cultivated, people found it hard to survive since they were unsafe from diseases, hunger and even the state of politics. It is due to these reasons that people like John Smith and John Winthrop thought of reviving the area to make it fit for human survival. Though they both had a common goal, they worked differently injecting different efforts in making their objectives a success. John Smith, a man who was born in 1580 in England, returned to the State after the fight for France to only realize how the people were struggling to survive under food insecurity problem at the same time get torture from the Native American tribes. He, therefore, embarks on liberating the town through creating Jamestown colony. Since his leadership in 1608, Smith exercised diplomacy on the people in the sense that they were supposed to work hard or face his anger. He scolded people without any fear or mercy, an act that made people afraid of him. For instance, he boldly tells the colony on page 82, " He, who does not work, shall not eat." It is evident where he forces the colony to grow crops, fish as well as carry out soldier duties, an action that led to the farming of the thirty acres of land. However, the strategy of leading was not much pleasing to the colony as his dictatorship made people hate him and thus unable to carry out most of the duties effectively, a situation that left them to depend on the Indian trade. Apart from dictating the colony, Smith also practiced violence in interacting with the Indians as he also opted to force into getting whatever he wanted from them, an act that greatly annoyed Captain Christopher Newport.

On the other hand, John Winthrop is a total opposite of John Smith in his strategy to create a new world. Winthrop develops the objective of his and the Puritans in creating the new world while on the Arbella ship. He says that they shall be a city that will be watched by all. To him all the acts they will engage in while developing the new city will attract much attention and thus the need to act wisely. He treats the colony with much respect since besides creating the New England he also wanted the people to have a close relationship with God upholding the doctrine of selfless in worship. John Winthrop and the Puritans having dropped to England, they began working on the church in the city which was full of corruption and inhumanity since the Winthrop crew had the same beliefs on equality between men to reduce the gap between the wealthy and the have-nots. For instance, he says, "no man is made more honorable than another or more wealthy .." (pg1) In this case, Winthrop opts to use preaching on justice to the people as well as the Native tribe thus creating a good relationship with the entire society. Given the way he protested for the settlers of Massachusetts to be allowed in the colonial government, Winthrop uses the negotiation means where he very well knows will be effective in fighting this battle. The results were good when the settlers granted them a chance to create a body that will represent them in general courts. Additionally, the Boston colony achieves success through the way Winthrop interacts with the members, unlike the Jamestown. The employment of sermons in leading aids him in attaining the goals since he is clear to use the question and answer method in teaching for all people to understand the need to practice mercy as well as justice.

Conclusion

In this case, it is clear to conclude that there are no similarities in the way John Smith and John Winthrop fought to create the New England despite the fact that they both had a common goal. However, the argument may be that the two men' ideas are still relevant today in political and other aspects of life. For instance, the idea of Smith using diplomacy in the ruling is evident in today's leadership since many leaders tend to believe it is the only way to make people respect one as a ruler. On the other hand, Winthrop's idea of using mercy and justice in the ruling is not mostly considered in the today's world, as leaders view this as a sign of weakness.