Opus 2012-231, Cornerstone Considerations: The Mayflower Compact, The Document

I have decided to go back a little farther than the Declaration of Independence as I look at the Cornerstones laid in the foundations of our Republic.  Most school children have heard of the Mayflower Compact.  Few have read it.  It is only one paragraph long.  Take a moment to peruse this short and significant document.

                                           MAYFLOWER COMPACT
                                                 by William Bradford
                                                            1620

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 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 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 11th of November, 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 Domini 1620.

Read it but don’t weep yet.

The 8th grade text book I am using defines the Mayflower Compact as “a formal document...which set up a civil government.”  I guess that is happening but it is much more.

homo unius libri