Tika has again given me permission to continue this saga. One important aspect of the Mayflower-Pilgrim story was the crafting of the Mayflower Compact. This was the first governing document of the Plymouth Colony. The Mayflower was originally bound for the mouth of the Hudson River (land granted there by the Crown to the Virginia Company) but for several reasons the ship sailed north to the New England coast. This decision inspired some of the "strangers" (colonists who were not members of the congregation) to say that since the settlement would not be made in the agreed-upon territory they "would use their own liberty; for non had power to command them....." The wiser heads, knowing winter was coming and they must work together to survive, drew up what was in essence a social contract in which the settlers consented to follow common rules and regulations for the sake of survival.
Known as the Mayflower Compact, it was signed on 11 Nov 1620 (OS..... or 21 Nov 1620 NS) by 41 of the ship's 102 passengers in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod. With Google you can find and read a transcript of this famous document. And now you know.
Thank you, Tika.
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