Amelia Tucker, age 15, of Flagstaff, Ariz., for her question:
WHAT WAS THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT?
Mayflower compact was the name of the first agreement for self government ever put in force in America. The name was taken from the ship called the Mayflower that carried the first Pilgrims to America in 1620.
The Mayflower anchored off Cape Cod, Mass., on Nov. 21, 1620.
The Pilgrim leaders persuaded 41 male adults aboard to sign the Mayflower Compact. The original compact which set up the government in Plymouth Colony has since disappeared.
In the agreement, the colonists outlined their Christian faith and solemnly pledged to combine into a political civil group as a way to preserve and further their plans. They agreed to establish laws and ordinances that would work for the betterment of all.
William Bradford, second governor of Plymouth colony, wrote a history called "Of Plimoth Plantation." In his spelling and punctuation, this is part of the wording he recalled that had been used in the Mayflower Compact:
"We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord King James, by ye grace of God, of Great Britain, Franc, & Ireland king, defender of ye faith, having undertaken, for ye glorie of God, and advancement of ye Christian faith and honour of our king and countrie, a voyage to plant ye first colonie in ye Northerne parts of Virginia, doe by these presents solemnly & mutualy in ye presence of God, and one of another, covenant, & combine ourselves togeather into a Civill body politick; for our better ordering, & preservation & furtherance of ye ends aforesaid; and by vertue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just & equall Lawes, ordinances, Acts, constitutions, & offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete & convenient for ye generall good of ye colonies unto which we promise all due submission and obedience."
On board the ship Mayflower were 102 passengers. More about the ship Mayflower:
It was built around 1610 and it had three masts and two decks. It probably measured about 90 feet long and weighed about 180 tons.
The Mayflower sailed from Plymouth, England, on Sept. 16, 1620, and reached Cape Cod 66 days after it departed. It dropped anchor in what is now Provincetown Harbor. It reached the present site of Plymouth, Mass., on Dec. 26, five days after a small party had explored the site and decided to make Plymouth their new home.
Historians aren't sure what happened to the ship after it returned to England. Some say it was dismantled after Christopher Jones, the master, died in 1622, although a ship called the Mayflower made trips to America after that.
Others say that William Russell bought the Mayflower for salvage, and used its hull as a barn roof. The barn stands in Jordans, a village outside London.
Mayflower II was built the way the original Mayflower is thought to have looked. It crossed the Atlantic in 54 days in 1957. It is now kept in Plymouth, Mass., and was a gift from the Britons to the American people as a symbol of friendship.