Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was an agreement to aboard the Mayflower in 1620. It is often cited as one of the foundations of the US Constitution.
It was an agreement composed by a consensus of the new Settlers arriving at New Plymouth in November of 1620. They traveled across the ocean on the ship Mayflower which anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The Mayflower Compact was made up of equal laws, for the general good of the settlement and with the will of the majority. The passengers of the Mayflower knew the risks therefore they composed the Compact for the sake of their own survival. All 41 of the male adults on the Mayflower signed the Compact. Being the first written laws for the new land, the Compact determined authority within the settlement. This established the colony and was to be free of English law. It was devised to set up a government from within themselves and was written by those to be governed.
What Did It Say?
Although the original document was said to be lost, the writings of William Bradford's journal are accurate. The Mayflower Compact reads:
"In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord, King James, by the Grace of God, of England, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, e&. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia; do by these presents, solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid; And by Virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the General good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In Witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord, King James of England, France and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini, 1620."
"In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord, King James, by the Grace of God, of England, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, e&. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia; do by these presents, solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid; And by Virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the General good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In Witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord, King James of England, France and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini, 1620."
Who Signed It?
41 men signed the Compact:
- John Carver
- Digery Priest
- William Brewster
- Edmund Margesson
- John Alden
- George Soule
- James Chilton
- Francis Cooke
- Moses Fletcher
- John Ridgate
- Christopher Martin
- William Mullins
- Thomas English
- John Howland
- Stephen Hopkins
- Edward Winslow
- Gilbert Winslow
- Miles Standish
- Richard Bitteridge
- Francis Eaton
- John Tilly
- John Billington
- Thomas Tinker
- Samuel Fuller
- Richard Clark
- John Allerton
- Richard Warren
- Edward Liester
- William Bradford
- Thomas Williams
- Isaac Allerton
- Peter Brown
- John Turner
- Edward Tilly
- John Craxton
- Thomas Rogers
- John Goodman
- Edward Fuller
- Richard Gardiner
- William White
- Edward Doten
The Mayflower Compact changed America because it was one of the first written framework the government established. It inspired other Colonists to create a better set of laws. Before the Puritans created this Compact, the only settlers in the New World were businessmen who only wanted money. It's important because of its principle.