American HistoryName______

Mr. D’AmbrosioPeriod______


INTERPRETING PRIMARY SOURCES

Directions: Read the Mayflower Compact, shown below in William Bradford’s own handwriting. Answer the questions that follow in2-3 complete sentences.

Preserved in Governor Bradford’s handwriting in his History of Plymouth Plantation

THE 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.

John Carver
William Bradford
Edward Winslow
William Brewster
Isaac Allerton
Miles Standish
John Alden
Samuel Fuller
Christopher Martin
William Mullins / William White
James Chilton
John Craxton
John Billington
Richard Warren
John Howland
Steven Hopkins
Edward Tilly
John Tilly
Francis Cook / Thomas Rogers
Thomas Tinker
John Rigdale
Edward Fuller
John Turner
Francis Eaton
Moses Fletcher
Digery Priest
Thomas Williams
Gilbert Winslow / Edmond Margeson
Peter Brown
Richard Bitteridge
Richard Clark
Richard Gardiner
John Allerton
Thomas English
Edward Doten
Edward Liester
John Goodman
George Soule

Directions: After reading the Mayflower Compact, answer the questions below in2-3 complete sentences.

  1. Why are William Bradford and the other male passengers of the Mayflower signing this compact according to the document?
  2. How does the Mayflower Compact provide for the general good of the colony according to the document?
  1. If you were writing the Mayflower Compact, what would you add or remove from the written agreement?
  2. Look through the signatures at the bottom of the Mayflower Compact. Which first name appears to be the most common? Which one is second most common?
    MOST COMMON: ______
    SECOND MOST COMMON: ______

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