Mayflower Compact of 1620:

An Agreement Between the Settlers at New Plymouth

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
nohern 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.

The document you have just read is the first political document composed in
America that would influence the eventual form of the United States government. The
circumstances under which it was composed and agreed to and the content of the
agreement make an interesting story, and one which may surprise many students. It was

signed on November 11th, 1620 at Cape Cod, Massachusetts. But didnt the pilgrims land
at Plymouth? When were they at Cape Cod? Well, actually, the Mayflower first landed at
Cape Cod. They had had a difficult voyage, been blown off course and could not
immediately reach their original destination, about 100 miles north of the Jamestown
colony in Virginia. Virginia, by the way, at that time was a huge piece of property. A very
generous, if unrealistic charter had granted the Virginia Company land running
approximately 100 miles along the coast of present day Virginia, but then veering off inland
at a 90 degree angle indefinitely. This meant that a huge wedge of land including about
2/3rds of North America was considered Virginia, at least by stockholders in the Virginia
Company.) The Mayflower went to Cape Cod because the captain knew where it was. By
that time, British fishermen and trading vessels had visited Cape Cod frequently.
(Obviously, it had already been named and, just as obviously, by fishermen.) The captain
knew they could find safe harbor there and a chance to decide their next move.
Plymouth, (or New Plymouth as it says in the title of the Mayflower Compact) was
located just across the bay from where the pilgrims landed near the tip of Cape Cod. They
had already explored Cape Cod and found it not well suited to farming due to its sandy
soil. Plymouth, however, was a good spot to farm. There had been an Indian village there
and they had already cleared land for farming and had been growing food there for some
time. There were no Indians there at the time the pilgrims(who actually referred to
themselves as separatists) arrived, and they didnt yet know why. As they found out later,
many of the Indians had recently died of diseases introduced by European traders and the
few survivors had fled the area.
On November 11th, the Mayflower was scheduled to disembark her passengers.
The leaders wrote up the Compact as a way to set up some sort of organizational
agreement for the colony to operate from once they were on land. If the pilgrims were a
religious community already, why was this necessary? The unexpected answer is that only
about half the passengers were actually part of the Pilgrims group. The rest were an
assorted group of mostly young men and a few young women who had signed on as

individuals and were not part of the religious group. Therefore, they needed an agreement
that would apply to everyone in the colony, not just the separatists. There was no one else
there to make the rules for them. They were three thousand long miles from their
government. They had no clear leader, since they werent all part of the same group.
William Bradford, the Pilgrims leader, had no authority outside his own group. The captain
of the Mayflowers authority ended when he stepped ashore. There had to be an
agreement of all for the colony to start.
It is a short, but remarkable document. It contains the essence of what a free
government is all about. They agree to an open, publicly declared contract of all the
colonists equally to form a political body for the benefit of all (they called that our better
ordering and preservation.) To do this they agree to set up just and equal laws for the
general good and promise submission and obedience to those laws. Then they all
signed it.