He is co-editor of the Encyclopedia of the First Amendment. This article was originally published in Foner, Eric, and John A. Garraty, eds. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Lutz, Donald S. John Carver survived the hard winter of but died in April , and the colonists chose William Bradford to replace him. Under his leadership, Plymouth Colony started to thrive.
As more and more settlers arrived and colonized the surrounding areas, a General Court was established. Each town elected representatives to attend the court, thereby creating an early representative government.
The Mayflower Compact was important because it was the first document to establish self-government in the New World. The Mayflower Compact was an early, successful attempt at democracy and undoubtedly played a role in future colonists seeking permanent independence from British rule and shaping the nation that eventually became the United States of America. In the name of God, Amen. Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and advancements of the Christian faith, and the 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, Mayflower Compact: The Avalon Project.
Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford. The Plymouth Colony Archive Project. The Mayflower Compact. Constitutional Rights Foundation. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!
Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. In September , a merchant ship called the Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, a port on the southern coast of England. The Pilgrims had obtained permission from English authorities to settle in Virginia, whose northern border at the time extended up to what is now New York. The Pilgrims had originally intended to settle near the mouth of the Hudson River, but due to dangerous shoals and a near shipwreck on their attempt to head south, they decided instead to plant themselves outside the bounds of the Virginia Company patent--which caused some "mutinous speeches" amongst some of the passengers.
The Mayflower Compact was an attempt to establish a temporary, legally-binding form of self-government until such time as the Company could get formal permission from the Council of New England. After more than two horrendous months at sea, Cape Cod on the horizon must have been an extremely welcome sight for the men, women and children who had boarded the Mayflower on 16 September, With many suffering from crippling seasickness - after battling strong winds and monstrous waves during their epic day voyage across the Atlantic - few of the on board would have cared about missing their planned destination of Northern Virginia, and the Hudson River today New York.
But, with America almost close enough to touch, the battered and broken passengers knew their journey was far from over, for they had no right to settle on the land upon which they had unintentionally arrived. The others, meanwhile, were considered common folk and included merchants, craftsmen, indentured servants and orphaned children.
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