Of Plymouth Plantation is set primarily in the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts, during early settler colonialism in North America. The majority of the first book contains Bradford's entries documenting the persecution of the Puritans in England and their subsequent flight to Holland (1608-1620). The second book contains the history of the Plymouth settlement, from 1620 to 1646.
By this time period, several colonial settlements had been made throughout North, South, and Central America by various European powers. Of Plymouth Plantation takes place against a backdrop of colonial violence, including the Atlantic slave trade and indigenous genocide. Bradford alludes to this backdrop of violence early on in the text, before Bradford even begins his account of the Plymouth colonists' experiences in America. In the following excerpt from Book 1, Chapter 4, he describes part of the decision-making process through which the Leyden congregation fixed on colonizing America:
They were now living as exiles in poor circumstances; and as great miseries might befall them here as there, for the twelve years’ truce was now over, and there was nothing but beating of drums and preparation for war. The Spaniard might prove as cruel as the savage of America, and the famine and pestilence as sore in Holland as across the seas.
This passage is notable for its display of Bradford and the Leyden congregation's problematic preconceived notions regarding indigenous people. They see indigenous people as "savages" known only for their cruelty. This reputation follows over a century of European colonial expansion into the Americas, which colors the perception of Bradford and his fellow congregation members, predisposing them to view indigenous people as uncivilized antagonists.
