The American Covenant - The Pilgrims

The American Covenant - The Mayflower Compact

In Europe in the 17^th Century, the Protestant Reformation was in full swing.  Martin Luther is widely acknowledged to have started the Reformation with his 1517 work The Ninety-Five Theses.  It was not considered to have been accepted and completed (although I’m not sure it will ever be completed) around 1648 with the conclusion of the Thirty-Years’ War.

The full history of the Christian faith going back to the Apostolic Fathers is beyond the scope of this paper.  Sufficient to say, until the earliest days of the reformation, Western Europe was Roman Catholic. 

Following Luther, there were other sects formed.  Whole countries became identified with certain faiths.  For example, if you were German or Austrian, you were most likely to be Lutheran.  If you were British, you were most likely to be of the Church of England (the Anglican Church was created when King Henry the Eighth broke contract with Rome in 1529.)  Today, the Episcopalians, Methodists, and Presbyterians all have come from these Anglican roots.

There were other sects arising which took umbrage with these Protestant beliefs.  Such groups as the Anabaptists in Germany and the Puritans in England were persecuted and often imprisoned for their beliefs. (You may want to read the history of the English translations of the Bible by reading “400 Years of the King James Bible at https://www.lds.org/ensign/2011/08/400-years-of-the-king-james-bible?lang=eng)

The Puritans or Separatists were among those who were severely persecuted in England.  They were extremely conservative and found the Anglican Church to be too similar to the Catholic Church.  A group of them fled to Holland where they lived for many years.  But the problem was that there was no place in all of Europe that did not have a “state religion” which implied persecution for any who did not affiliate with whatever that state’s religion was.  The only place where they could freely practice their faith was in a new land.

They applied for and received a grant from the Virginia Company to go to America.  The original plan was that they would settle somewhere in Virginia as had the immigrants from Jamestown.  During the course of their voyage, they were blown off course and landed far north of Virginia in what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts.  Because they were outside of the area of the original Virginia Company grant, they realized that they were in a totally different situation that called for them to organize themselves in a body politic for the purpose of self-government and freedom.

According to scholars at About American History.com, the men of the company, which included both Puritans and non-Puritans, met and created what was called the Mayflower Compact, perhaps the foundational document in American history.  I quote:
This document was the initial governing document for the Plymouth Colony. It was signed on November 11, 1620 while the settlers were still aboard the Mayflower before disembarking while anchored in Provincetown Harbor.

The Mayflower Compact was the foundational document for the Plymouth Colony. The fact that it was a covenant whereby the settlers would subordinate their rights to follow laws passed by the government to ensure protection and survival made it a unique document. As previously stated, it set a precedent and was indeed an influential document for the founting fathers as they created the US Constitution.
Here is the full text of the Mayflower Compact:

Mayflower Compact

In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are under-written, 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 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 of another, covenant and combine our selves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, 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 hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the eleventh of November [New Style, November 21], in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Dom. 1620

In this contract, they affirm their common lineage as subjects of King James, but they also state that they undertook this venture “for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian Faith."  That the Puritans prospered in America and, as a result, began to persecute others who believed differently, is a story for another day.  The point I wish to make is that, like their contemporaries in the Jamestown colony, they considered themselves under divine contract to Jesus Christ and His gospel, however they understood that gospel to be.

From the very beginning, the American Covenant with the Lord is clearly stated as the ideal if not always lived.  America hit a lot of bumps along the way, but from the start, this country tried always to put God first.

Sources Researched

http://americanhistory.about.com/od/colonialamerica/a/may_compact.htm

 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ _Reformation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_Reformation#Austria
https://www.lds.org/ensign/2011/08/400-years-of-the-king-james-bible?lang=eng
 http://www.pilgrimhallmuseum.org/mayflower_compact_text.htm

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