Mayflower Compact, Essay Example

The Mayflower compact was designed in 1620. It played a vital role in the making of the U.S. constitution. The Mayflower compact was a covenant that bound the settlers to obey the laws enacted by the government to ensure survival and protection. Through this document, the Plymouth colony was founded thus setting the precedence from which the founding fathers of America would create the constitution. A transcription of the document together and a brief history about its origin can be found on the website http://americanhistory.about.com/od/colonialamerica/a/may_compact.htm.

I have selected the website stated above as it gives a clear account of the events that led to the discovery or invention of the document. The website is simple and well structured in a manner that gives the reader an impetus to read more. It has links that will guide the reader through answers to any of the questions he or she might have, concerning the Mayflower Compact. The simplicity of the website makes it easy for the reader to remember and read through very first.

In my opinion, there cannot be anything interesting in history especially in the allocated timeline which could be more important than the Mayflower compact. This is because we all know how important the American constitution is to the Americans. The American constitution is unique in comparison to those of other countries in that it is simple and clear just like the transcription of the Mayflower compact. I appeal to the reader to try and take a look at some constitutions and he or she will understand what I am talking about. Some are so elaborate in such a way that only professors can be able to understand their content.

The American tradition has had the Mayflower compact as its first constitutional document. In 1620, 41 men aboard the Mayflower ship bound themselves with an oath before entering the Plymouth port after which they founded the Plymouth Colony which is the present state of Massachusetts. The oath was put on record and signed as a document to form what is now famous Mayflower compact. On signing the document, the men vowed to serve with one another by becoming a people or body politic. Their mission was to pursue Gods glory and spread the Christian faith and promote their kings and country’s honor. The signatories to the document vowed to promote just and equal laws for their better ordering as a people.

The document provided no framework of government and neither did it stipulate what a good law was constituted of. However, it has been viewed by the conservatives as a fundamental event in the history of the American constitution. Nonetheless, it is a self-conscious document upon which a church covenant was adopted by the dissenting Protestants in England who had formed their separate and distinct congregation from that of the Anglicans. The adoption of the document was a civil requirement for the foundation of a colony.

The objective of the document is made manifest in the oath that gives anyone that is privy to it to engage themselves in a civil body politic, work in unison for heir common interests in the formation of a civil government and the enforcement, consideration and promulgation of laws.

The reader should however understand that, whereas the compact formed the American people, the constitution forms a government. Further reading can be found at http://www.firstprinciplesjournal.com/articles . I would recommend this website to the reader because I feel it can form a basis of argument through which the ongoing moral decadence in America can be challenged. A moral decadence that justifies itself through the constitution which in essence is strongly opposed to it. The Mayflower compact defines the American tradition that is rooted in Christian principles but those principles are at stake and a once free people will find themselves enslaved again if they loose focus.