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The Mayflower Compact

The Mayflower Compact signed on November 21, 1620 by 41 of the male passengers on the Mayflower prior to their landing at Plymouth, Massachusetts demonstrated the early colonists belief in the tendency of men to gravitate toward a natural, independent state. But what is also implicit in the Compact is the signers' belief that man has the right to seek such a state if he desires and that he should not be prevented from seeking such a state unless by his own consent. Consequently, the Compact, although not a constitution of any sort, bound company members into a political body that forced each of them to abide by any laws and regulations that would later be established. Eventually, it would provide the foundation for Plymouth's government. The significant parts of the brief document declare that the signers "solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation [] 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" (Mayflower Compact).

The idea that each man has the right to govern himself is based in a belief in the primacy of the laws of Nature. In his essay concerning civil government, John Locke analyzes the various ways in which the state can hold power over the individual, which necessarily includes a discussion of how an individual concedes power to a government. John Locke argues from a belief in natural law. For example, he states that man is born "with a title to perfect freedom and an uncontrolled enjoyment of all the rights and privileges of the law of Nature" (Locke, Ch. 6). Natural law, as the concept came to be understood, was based on the belief that, in primitive times, man existed in a s...

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The Mayflower Compact. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 09:25, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1689140.html