Four hundred years ago today, democracy was introduced to this continent with the signing of the Mayflower Compact by its passengers, or at least 41 of its men; but then democracy, like nature it seems, is always evolving in order to survive.
Having been blown off course from their intended Virginia, the Puritans had reached Cape Cod in what became Massachusetts, well outside the chartered colony they meant to join. Some of the non-Puritans aboard asserted that they were thus not bound by their charter, which prompted the Puritans to establish their own government, at least until things could be sorted out with England and their financiers.
As Nathaniel Philbrick wrote in his recent book on the Mayflower, “Just as a spiritual covenant had marked the beginning of their congregation in Leiden, a civil covenant would provide the basis for a secular government in America.” Although we treat the covenant as historic and with respect, it was short, simple and born of necessity. It declared their common agreement to establish liberty under laws, with all (in the narrower sense of the times) having the right to participate in establishing them.
The wording of the Compact consists largely of what we now deem flowery precatory language and relies on the implied good faith of all to serve the common good by the signers and those to be governed by it:
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 the 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 do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, 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
The Compact remained in effect until 1691, when Plymouth merged with the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but it survives today as a symbol of our continuing commitment to a self-government for the common good.
Democracies must evolve in the face of new challenges and in recognition of failings, of which we have had many. A war over the civil and moral wrong of slavery tested our resolve. The commitment to the system and process is what holds us together still after 400 years.
Some today seem to question that compact once more, including one misguided leader and others dependent on his whimsied graces. The fact that the Puritans felt a need for a written document implies that they may have had similar dissenters among them. What has made us great though has been 400 years of the common belief that we are better as one working together.
A look back for perspective seems more timely than ever. We need also to look forward, as we face challenges far greater than those few who were hoping to survive the coming winter on one cold November day in 1620.
