THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT
THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT I The voyagers on the Mayflower were carried by wind and wave to a point-within the curve of the present Cape Cod-that was north of the Virginia Company’s jurisdiction. Finding themselves thus outside the authority of their original patent, and hoping to arrest mutinous talk among some of the passengers, a compact was drawn up and signed by forty-one men aboard the ship, on November 11, 1620.
By the terms of this, the so-called Mayflower Compact, the Pilgrims agreed to govern themselves until they could arrange for a charter of their own; they were never able to arrange for such a charter, and the Compact remained in force until their colony at Plymouth was absorbed in that of Massachusetts Bay in 1691.
In fact, however, the Virginia Charter had been amended earlier in 1620 so as to allow for greater local autonomy, and had the Pilgrims landed at their original destination, they could still have formed their own government, as long as it was consonant with the laws of England. The original compact has been lost, and historians are forced to rely for its wording on Mourt’s Relation (1622), which is the earliest source of the text reprinted here.
Source: The Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth in Mayflower Compact Assignment New England, in 1620, etc. George B. Cheever, ed., 2nd edition, New York, 1849, pp. 30-31. Read the accompanying handout and answer the questions below. The Mayflower Compact November 11, 1620
1. According to this document, why did these colonists come to North America? 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, etc., having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian Faith, and honor of our King and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the 2. Who are the signers of the compact (Don’t give specific names.)?
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 politic, 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 3. Why have the signers entered into this agreement? 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 4. What do the signers agree to do with respect to the government? sovereign lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland, the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini, 1620.
John Carver Gilbert Winslow William White William Bradford Edmund Margesson Richard Warren Edward Winslow Peter Brown John Howland William Brewster Richard Bitteridge Thomas Rogers Isaac Allerton George Soule Thomas Tinker Miles Standish Edward Tilly John Ridgate John Alden John Tilly Edward Fuller John Turner Francis Cooke Richard Clark Francis Eaton john Billington Richard Gardiner .
James Chilton Jose Fletcher John Allerton John Craxton John Goodman Thomas English Stephen Hopkins Samuel Fuller Edward Doten Digery Priest Christopher Martin Edward Liester Thomas Williams William Mullins
