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| About the Mayflower Compact: | ||||
| The Mayflower Compact was the first written agreement regarding self-government in America. The colonists on the Mayflower realized that they were outside of English jurisdiction after having landed several miles north of their Virginia destination. The male heads of the families then decided to draw up an agreement aboard the ship and required all to sign it before going ashore and settling in Plymouth. In this document they pledged to adhere to the laws passed by the majority. The document displays that the primary reason for doing so was for the "glorification of God and the advancement of the Christian faith." | ||||
| Agreement Between the Settlers at New Plymouth : 1620 | ||||
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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 Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King,
Defender of the Faith, &c. 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 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 do enact, constitute, and frame,
such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and
Officers, 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. Mr. John Carver, Mr. William Bradford, Mr Edward Winslow, Mr. William Brewster. Isaac Allerton, Myles Standish, John Alden, John Turner, Francis Eaton, James Chilton, John Craxton, John Billington, Joses Fletcher, John Goodman, Mr. Samuel Fuller, Mr. Christopher Martin, Mr. William Mullins, Mr. William White, Mr. Richard Warren, John Howland, Mr. Steven Hopkins, Digery Priest, Thomas Williams, Gilbert Winslow, Edmund Margesson, Peter Brown, Richard Britteridge George Soule, Edward Tilly, John Tilly, Francis Cooke, Thomas Rogers, Thomas Tinker, John Ridgdale Edward Fuller, Richard Clark, Richard Gardiner, Mr. John Allerton, Thomas English, Edward Doten, Edward Liester. |
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