The Mayflower Compact

Description

About The Mayflower Compact

The Mayflower Compact, signed on November 11, 1620, aboard the ship Mayflower as it lay anchored in Provincetown Harbor, is often called the first constitutional document of American democracy. This brief but momentous agreement established a framework for self-governance among the Pilgrims.

Historical Context

The Pilgrims had originally intended to settle near the mouth of the Hudson River, within the territory of the Virginia Company. However, storms blew the Mayflower off course, and they landed in Cape Cod—outside any established English governmental jurisdiction. Some passengers (“Strangers” who were not part of the Separatist congregation) threatened to go their own way since the Virginia Company’s charter didn’t apply.

The Agreement

To prevent mutiny and establish order, the male passengers drafted and signed the Mayflower Compact. The document was remarkably brief but revolutionary in its implications:

• Mutual Consent: Signers agreed to form a “civil body politic” for their “better ordering and preservation”
• Self-Governance: They pledged to enact “just and equal laws” for the general good
• Rule of Law: All agreed to submit to the laws they themselves would create

Revolutionary Significance

The Mayflower Compact was revolutionary because it derived governmental authority from the governed themselves, not from a king or church. This concept of government by consent of the governed would profoundly influence American political thought, finding its fullest expression in the Declaration of Independence 156 years later.

Legacy

Though the Plymouth Colony was eventually absorbed into Massachusetts, the Compact’s principle of self-governance became foundational to American democracy. John Adams called it “the only instance in human history of that positive, original social compact.”

This free ebook edition presents this foundational document of American democracy, essential reading for understanding the origins of self-governance in America.