A Brief History
On November 11, 1620, while anchored in Provincetown Harbor (off Cape Cod), the male passengers of the Mayflower wrote and signed a document known as The Mayflower Compact. Of the 101 people aboard the ship, 41 men signed the famous pact. Known today as “Pilgrims,” the settlers aboard were actually in two main groups, the first group calling themselves “Saints” that were religious separatist Congregationalists and a group of tradesmen, adventurers and the like called “Strangers” by the separatists.
Digging Deeper
The religious crowd on the Mayflower was fleeing religious persecution in England because of their extreme beliefs (they were themselves quite intolerant). The idea was to sail to the Virginia colony and settle there, but with the sorry state of navigation and ships at that time, ended up in what is now Massachusetts, what became the Plymouth Colony. The Mayflower Compact in fact became the first governing document of the Plymouth Colony.
With provisions growing low, the settlers could not afford to waste time looking for their intended landing point in Virginia, and decided to stay put. The Mayflower Compact created a form of government under which they agreed to live, since they would not be under the laws of Virginia. Of course, given the era, women and children had no right to vote.
The Mayflower Compact was signed and dated under the old Julian Calendar, so there is about a 10 day variation from our modern Gregorian Calendar. This simple agreement among some of the first English settlers of what is now the United States has become an important part of our National Heritage. People that can trace their lineage back to those people aboard the Mayflower are often afforded a certain special place in modern American society, as if this ancestry somehow makes them special.
Unfortunately for History, no original copy of the Mayflower Compact exists today, and the best we have are 3 copies made 2, 3, and 46 years later. With the lack of modern reproduction machines, these copies were made by hand and differ from each other in minor ways. Below is a representation of the modern version:
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 advancements 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 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 hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the 11th 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, 1620.”(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower_Compact)
Below is a list of the signers of the Mayflower Compact
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Question for students (and subscribers): Were any of your ancestors on the Mayflower? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Raum, Elizabeth. The Mayflower Compact (Documenting U.S. History). Heinemann, 2012.
Yero, Judith Lloyd. American Documents: The Mayflower Compact. National Geographic Children’s Books, 2006.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="14890 https://www.historyandheadlines.com/?p=14890">16 Comments
Ive heard the mayflower a few times and i known of a hotel or housing place in akron called the mayflower downtown, with is being named after a ship also gives it much power.
I think it is great that after a long history of religious wars the pilgrims had the courage to stand up and set sail for their freedom of their beliefs.
The people of the Mayflower must have been really fed up with what was happening in their home countries to risk absolutely everything for a better life.
To risk everything… i guess it was worth it in the end
In the 3rd grade I remember doing a recreation of the Mayflower with costumes and props in class. Its good to learn about the history at such a young age to teach them how different life has changed year by year.
The settlers probably didn’t like what was going on in England which is why they created their own religious beliefs and moved to the North America.
These guys sound pretentious.
I remember learning about the Mayflower and the pilgrims coming over. I had some family come over on the Mayflower.
i think it’s great how this took place for freedom of religion, our country was founded on freedom of religion. in today’s time though, any voice of any religion is met with protest and condemnation.
I think it was smart of the settlers to separate them from England to practice their own form of religion.
I find it interesting that they still acted as though they had landed in Virginia. I wonder if they knew they where in the wrong area, or if they just assumed they where actually in Virginia?
My dad went to the actual Mayflower and apparently it’s very small!
Its so interesting to se the history of something we learned about as kids and now how we view it as adults.
I didn’t know that on board the Mayflower there was a group called “Strangers” that were tradesman but also seeking adventure!
I’m pretty sure I’m not related to anyone who boarded the Mayflower, but it’s cool to see how they were divided & called “Saints” and “Strangers.”
I knew that the Pilgrims were trying to flee Europe but I did not know that they were really broken into two different categories, the Saints and the Strangers. Now I wonder if I am somehow related to any of them.