What is the MAYFLOWER COMPACT?
The Mayflower Compact was a legal instrument that bound the Pilgrims together in 1620 when they arrived in New England. The core members of the Pilgrims' immigrant group were Separatists, members of a Puritan sect that had split from the Church of England, the only legal church in England at that time. Others in the group, however, had remained part of the Church of England, so not all of the Pilgrims shared the same religion.
When the Pilgrims left England, they obtained permission from the King of England to settle on land further to the south near the mouth of the Hudson River. Because they chose to remain where they landed in New England, they needed a new permission to settle there. On November 11, 1620, needing to maintain order and establish a civil society while they waited for this new patent, the male passengers signed the Mayflower Compact.
John Quincy Adams described the agreement as “the only instance in human history of that positive, original, social compact” and it is popularly believed to have influenced the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
When the Pilgrims left England, they obtained permission from the King of England to settle on land further to the south near the mouth of the Hudson River. Because they chose to remain where they landed in New England, they needed a new permission to settle there. On November 11, 1620, needing to maintain order and establish a civil society while they waited for this new patent, the male passengers signed the Mayflower Compact.
John Quincy Adams described the agreement as “the only instance in human history of that positive, original, social compact” and it is popularly believed to have influenced the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
Copy of the mAYFLOWER cOMPACT IS BELOW... Actual doc. does not exist
The Mayflower Compact
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 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 politic, 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 hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod the 11 of November, in the year of the reign of our sovereign Lord, King James of England, France and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth Ano. Dom. 1620.
John CarverEdward TilleyDigery Priest*William Bradford*John Tilley*Thomas WilliamsEdward Winslow*Francis Cooke*Gilbert WinslowWilliam Brewster*Thomas Rogers*Edmund MargesonIsaac Allerton*Thomas TinkerPeter Browne*Miles Standish*John RidgdaleRichard BritteridgeJohn Alden*Edward Fuller*George Soule*Samuel Fuller*John TurnerRichard ClarkeChristopher MartinFrancis Eaton*Richard GardinerWilliam Mullins*James Chilton*John AllertonWilliam White*John CrackstoneThomas EnglishRichard Warren*John Billington*Edward Doty*John Howland*Moses Fletcher*Edward LeisterStephen Hopkins*John Goodman
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 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 politic, 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 hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod the 11 of November, in the year of the reign of our sovereign Lord, King James of England, France and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth Ano. Dom. 1620.
John CarverEdward TilleyDigery Priest*William Bradford*John Tilley*Thomas WilliamsEdward Winslow*Francis Cooke*Gilbert WinslowWilliam Brewster*Thomas Rogers*Edmund MargesonIsaac Allerton*Thomas TinkerPeter Browne*Miles Standish*John RidgdaleRichard BritteridgeJohn Alden*Edward Fuller*George Soule*Samuel Fuller*John TurnerRichard ClarkeChristopher MartinFrancis Eaton*Richard GardinerWilliam Mullins*James Chilton*John AllertonWilliam White*John CrackstoneThomas EnglishRichard Warren*John Billington*Edward Doty*John Howland*Moses Fletcher*Edward LeisterStephen Hopkins*John Goodman