The Mayflower was a ship headed for the Virginia colony but due to natural events that occurred, it was blown off course too far north. It landed in Provincetown Massachusetts. London Company authorized the voyage of the Mayflower but didn’t give permission for them to settle that far north. The settlers signed a compact, The Mayflower Compact, which would be governed by majority rule.
When they arrived in Massachusetts, their goals were “god, gold and glory”. They were the first permanent british settlers, called The Jamestown colony, settling along a river. They named the river James after their monarch James I. Living along James was difficult. The winters …show more content…
The Mayflower was a ship headed for the Virginia colony but due to natural events that occurred, it was blown off course too far north. It landed in Provincetown Massachusetts. London Company authorized the voyage of the Mayflower but didn’t give permission for them to settle that far north. The settlers signed a compact, The Mayflower Compact, which would be governed by majority rule.
The Mayflower Compact did, however, embody the guiding and lasting principles of the Pilgrims as expressed by their pastor John Robinson: separation of Church and state in a "civil body politic" and the rule of "just and equal laws."
As an early example of democracy in America, the Mayflower Compact has remained an inspiration since 1620.
The Pilgrims then requested a new patent from England. In 1621, the Council for New England issued the Second Peirce Patent, granting the Pilgrims permission to remain in Plymouth. The patent was provisional - if the settlement survived for seven years, the Pilgrims could apply for a more "permanent" patent. The Colony did survive. The Warwick/Bradford Patent, signed by the Earl of Warwick and addressed to William Bradford, was issued in