The Mayflower Compact

"WE … solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one another,covenant and combine together into a single Body Politik, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid; And by virtue hereof do 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…" --The Mayflower Compact, November 11, 1620.

The Mayflower Compact was a voluntary agreement among the male passengers of the Mayflower to live together in a single community. The immediate purpose of the Compact was to provide an authoritative basis for establishing a settlement in New England; the grant given by the settlers’ original charter was for land in Virginia. The document represents the first expression in the American experience of government by majority rule and equality under the law.

The Pilgrims were originally from Leiden, in present-day Netherlands. Deciding to move to America during the winter of 1616-1617, their plan was to set up a fishing and trading post in Virginia, under the auspices of the Virginia Company. They set sail from Plymouth on September 16, with 87 passengers and a crew of 48, and arrived in the New World on November 19.

The Mayflower Compact is a simple document. It echoes the timeless human desire to live as individuals equal before the law and in community with other individuals.