The Mayflower Compact

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Introduction: What the Mayflower Compact Is

The Mayflower Compact is a short written agreement signed in November 1620 by male passengers aboard the Mayflower. It established a temporary framework for self-government among the settlers who found themselves outside the authority of any existing English colonial charter.

The document was not a constitution in the modern sense, nor did it declare independence from the English Crown. It affirmed loyalty to King James I while committing the signers to form a civil body politic and to enact laws for the general good of the colony.

Its significance lies in why it was written: it was a practical response to legal uncertainty created by the voyage and the unexpected landing location.

What the Mayflower Compact Accomplished (Factual, Limited Claims)

Based on surviving records, the Compact accomplished the following:

  • Established a collective agreement to self-govern
  • Affirmed consent of the governed among the signers
  • Prevented immediate disorder or fragmentation
  • Provided legitimacy to early colonial leadership
  • Created continuity until formal colonial governance developed

It did not:

  • Create a democratic republic
  • Establish universal suffrage
  • Reject English sovereignty

Those are later interpretations and must be treated as such elsewhere.

The Mayflower Compact — Full Text (1620)

IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN.

We whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c.

Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and Honour 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 Politick, 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 eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth.

Anno Domini 1620.

(Spelling and capitalization preserved from traditional transcription.)

Notes on the Text

  • The original document has not survived; the text is preserved through later copies
  • This transcription reflects widely accepted historical versions
  • Variations in spelling and punctuation appear in different sources

These limitations should always be acknowledged — and you are doing that correctly.

Research & Source Transparency Notice

This article is based on available primary and secondary historical sources. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, early historical records are often incomplete, contradictory, or preserved only through later transcription. Readers are encouraged to consult additional sources — including those that challenge or contradict the information presented here — and to compare evidence in pursuit of a fuller understanding of the historical record.

Related Articles & Primary Documents

Published

  • Conditions That Led to the Mayflower Voyage (Before 1620)

Planned / Forthcoming