The Mayflower Compact was the first document of what would evolve into the republic of the United States. It should never be assumed, however, that the Pilgrim Fathers intended to break with the Old World. Rather, the Mayflower Compact demonstrates commitment to what the Pilgrims had known and believed. This fact has been aptly captured by C. P. Breckinridge in his 1889 oration at Plymouth. He noted that the Mayflower Compact was “. . . not a constitution, nor yet a charter; nor yet in a true sense a social compact,” but rather “…the complete demonstration that they were planting the seeds of the old truths, not attempting to make some new and unknown harvest from untried seed.” As is evident from the reading of the Mayflower Compact below, the “old truths” which the Pilgrim Fathers brought with them to the New World was the Christian faith!
Text of Mayflower Compact
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, etc.
Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our king & country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly & mutually in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant & combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering & preservation & furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact laws, ordinances, acts constitutions, & offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet & convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cap-Cod the 11th. of November, in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord, King James, of England, France, & Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland, the fifty fourth. Ano: Dom. 1620.”
Signers of the Mayflower Compact: The original text of the Mayflower Compact as recorded in Governor Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation no longer exists. The above text is taken from the writings of Nathaniel Morton, Gov. Bradford’s nephew and Plymouth Colony’s first published historian. Morton provides the following names as the signers of the Mayflower Compact: John Carver, Edward Tilly, Digery Priest, William Bradford, John Tilly, Thomas Williams, Edward Winslow, Francis Cooke, Gilbert Winslow, William Brewster, Thomas Rogers, Edmund Margeson, Isaac Allerton, Thomas Tinker, Peter Brown, Miles Standish, John Rigdale, Richard Bitteridge, John Alden, Edward Fuller, George Soule, Samuel Fuller, John Turner, Richard Clark, Christopher Martin, Francis Eaton, Richard Clark, William Mullins, James Chilton, John Allerton, William White, John Craxton, Thomas English, Richard Warren, John Billington, Edward Doten, John Howland, Moses Fletcher, Edward Leister, Stephen Hopkins, John Goodman.
Conclusion
Throughout the twentieth century, anti-American groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) – which was initiated under the influence of communism – have suppressed and denied America’s true Christian origin. Children and youth have been subjected to redacted forms of historical sources which have been edited to remove their Christian origin. In fact, the charters of all Thirteen American Colonies were based upon the Bible and Christian principles, while eight of the Thirteen Colonies had state churches. However, America’s courts began to deny the nation’s Christian origin during the mid-twentieth century. America’s Founding Fathers understood it would require great commitment and resolve if they were to bequeath a heritage of Christian freedom to succeeding generations, and that responsibility is no less great for the present generation.
America deserves to know its true heritage.
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