The Mayflower Compact P1

When the Pilgrims left England, they were sailing for the northern parts of the Virginia Colony. Throughout the voyage, fierce winds blew them hundreds of miles north to a place completely outside of Virginia's jurisdiction. They finally put ashore at Cape Cod in the Massachusetts area. So before leaving the Mayflower, they drew up their own governmental compact. which declared:

Having undertaken for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith, and the honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents (that is, by this legal document and charter) solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together a civil body politic....

This agreement, which later became known as the Mayflower Compact, was the first governing document written in the New World. It placed the Pilgrims civil government on a firm Christian basis and was the beginning of American constitutional government.

CONTENT SOURCED "The American Story, the beginnings" by David Barton and Tim Barton