| In 1620, a group of 102 Pilgrims and 30 crew members boarded a 100-ft ship called Mayflower and sailed from England, by way of Holland, setting out for the New World. After a 10-week voyage, the ship landed at the tip of Cape Cod on the eastern coast of what would become Massachusetts. They landed on November 21, 1620, and named the place Plymouth Colony. The Pilgrims were separatists, meaning they separated themselves from the Church of England. They believed the Church of England was beyond repair, and so they sought liberty to practice their religion away from the reach of King James and his bishops in the Church in a “new Promised land.” However, they remained loyal to the King of England in their newly established settlement. Before disembarking, 41 male passengers of the ship signed a compact, originally titled, Agreement Between the Settlers of New Plymouth. It has since become known as the Mayflower Compact. It was a short document (less than 200 words) that brought the individual settlers together for a common purpose and established the order by which they would govern themselves. There are four parts to the document: – Pledging loyalty to King James of Great Britain, Ireland and France (this is the same King James who authorized the printing of the Holy Bible in English), – Stating their purpose as to why they left their homeland (advancement of the Christian faith), – Creating a civil Body Politick to further their stated goals, and – Enacting a system of “just and equal Laws” for the good of the colony. It established not the first set of laws for both Mayflower Pilgrims and non-Pilgrims, but a system by which they could enact laws. At the same time, it created the first government based on common consent in the New World, and established the American continent as a land of law and liberty for each colonist. Essentially, the Mayflower Compact was the first experiment with democracy in the New World. In 1920, speaking at a dinner held by the Mayflower Descendents in Boston, Mass., to mark the 300th Anniversary of the Pilgrim’s landing at Plymouth, Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge stated: The compact which they signed was an event of the greatest importance. It was the foundation of liberty based on law and order, and that tradition has been steadily upheld. They drew up a form of government which has been designated as the first real constitution of modern times. It was democratic, an acknowledgment of liberty under law and order and the giving to each person the right to participate in the government, while they promised to be obedient to the laws. The legacy of the Mayflower Compact is felt in our society today. It was the first time in modern history that a government was set up by the people and for the people. It leveraged the principle of common consent to help the Pilgrims to advance their society systematically, without monarchy or anarchy. As we have seen the spread of democracy throughout the world, this 200-word document is the cornerstone that all democracy has been built upon. |