The Mayflower Compact
- Julia Cook
- Apr 7
- 1 min read
In November of 1620, after a long and stormy two-month voyage, the Pilgrims reached the coast of what is now Massachusetts.
As the Mayflower was anchored off Cape Cod, the colonists drew up an agreement to live by for the general good of the Colony. They called it the Mayflower Compact. It was an agreement for their self-government. A social contract between them with a common purpose, to live free and worship freely.
How interesting that it was written and signed on November 11th – the same date that many years later became Armistice Day (and then Veterans’ Day). What are the odds?
Well, the odds are 1 out of 365, I guess!
Anyway . . . Here’s what it said:
After writing out the Compact, 41 adult males signed it and then all the signers agreed that John Carver would be their first governor.
It was unheard of in those times to form a government “of the people and by the people.” The foundation of our Constitutional Republic!
