by Lenna Gonya

Created on: March 18, 2010

On November 11, 1620, a small group of colonists composed and signed an agreement that would set the groundwork for the future of America.

The Mayflower Compact was a brief and simple agreement between men, to establish order, and prevent dissension between the pilgrim settlers. It was written as a utilitarian measure, but it became one of the first examples of what would later become democracy.

The original Mayflower Compact has been lost to history, but thanks to William Bradford, who wrote about it, we know what it contained.

When the pilgrims landed in Massachusetts, instead of their appointed destination, Virginia, they actually became squatters on land that was not theirs. However, after all their trials and tribulations, they were more concerned with being on dry land. Reasoning that the exact location of their claim was not actually known, and not confirmed before they set sail, they claimed the land where they came ashore.

Not all of the Mayflowers passengers were Separatists. Those that weren’t saw the change of destination as an excuse to declare their own freedom. Since they had not landed in Virginia, as their charter directed, they reasoned that they were no longer bound by the rules of settlement.

The Pilgrims, members of the Separatist group, however, realized that if everyone went their own way, there was little chance in the colony’s survival. An agreement was needed.

They were well aware that other settlers had tried and failed in the New World, principally because they were without law, order, and leadership. Far away from the governments that had controlled their lives, and set their laws, they found themselves starting from scratch. Their solution was the first written document in North America that outlined a form of government by the people.

The Mayflower Compact was written on the Mayflower, and signed by 41 men, 37 of whom were pilgrims. In essence, it stated that they would create laws, offices and constitutions that would be for the common good. This compact was a vow to God, and between the signers that they would abide by the majority decisions of the group.

It also mentions their sovereign, since, although their native land was thousands of miles away, it was their King who had granted them the right to settlement in the New World.

The very idea that the pilgrims came up with the idea for the compact was an extraordinary endeavor in a time when, men governing themselves was virtually unheard of. While the Compact is seen as the first example of self governing in America, the Pilgrims undoubtedly considered it simply a necessary act to help insure their survival.

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