Free Essay: The Mayflower Compact
Mayflower Compact refers to a written agreement that a consensus made of new Settlers at the New Plymouth composed in November 1620. It was the first document to govern Plymouth Colony and the Separatists wrote it. Sometimes, the Separatists were called the Saints who were fleeing the religious persecution of King James of England.
Before settling, the Separatists sailed across the ocean on Mayflower ship anchored in what is currently called Provincetown Harbor close to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The travelers aboard this ship included adventurers, servants, and tradesmen. The Separatists referred to most of these as strangers. The 41 adult men signed the Mayflower Compact aboard the Mayflower ship.
Equal and fair laws were used to draw up the Mayflower Compact to ensure the general good or benefit of the Plymouth Settlement and also with the general will of the people. The passengers aboard Mayflower knew that earlier settlers did not succeed because they lacked a government. To ensure their own good and survival, they came up with this document.
As the first written document governing this new land, Mayflower Compact was the determinant of authority in the settlement. It was considered as the main authority in the settlement until 1691. The Compact declared that the new colony, mostly made of the persecuted Separatists would be free from the English law. Mayflower Compact was devised to establish a government from the people and the governed wrote it.
The nephew of William Bradford, Nathaniel Morton provided the list of the signers of the Mayflower Compact. These names were published in the England’s Memorial of 1669. The belief of the signers while creating the Compact was that covenants should be honored between men and also between man and God. Honoring covenants was part of the righteous integrity of the Separatists and they agreed that this principle would bind them.
According to many historians, the Mayflower Compact formed a foundation of the constitution of the United States that was written after more than 150 years. For this reason, many historians agree that America was started by individuals who had honor for God and they also set the founding principles of this nation by the words found in the Bible. The settlers lived with reliability, fairness and honesty towards establishing a great country.
Originally, the Mayflower was bound for Virginia colony and the Company of Merchant Adventures of London financed it. However, it was forced to anchor at Cape Cod by storms in what is called Massachusetts today.
This motivated most of the passengers to declare that they would use their liberty since none of them would command them because they all had equal powers. Thus, they agreed to settle in Plymouth instead of the initially agreed on Virginia territory. Establishment of a government enabled the settlers to live harmoniously because the Mayflower Compact adopted a model of the majority.
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Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower_Compact
http://mayflowerhistory.com/mayflower-Compact/
http://www.history.com/topics/mayflower-Compact
http://www.allabouthistory.org/mayflower-Compact.htm