by Rod Gragg
“What could now sustain them but the spirit of God and his grace?”
If they looked behind them, there was the mighty ocean which they had passed, and was now as a main bar and gulf to separate them from all the civil parts of the world. If it be said they had a ship to succor them, it is true; but what heard they daily from the [master and crew was] that with speed they should look out a place with their shallop, where they would be at some near distance; for the season was such as he would not stir from there [with the ship and its crew until] a safe harbor was discovered by them where they would be, and he might go without danger; and that [the ship’s rations must be] kept sufficient for themselves and their return. Yea, it was muttered by some, that if they got not a place in time, they would turn them and their goods ashore and leave them. Let it also be considered what weak hopes of supply and succor they left behind them, that might bear up their minds in this sad condition and trials they were under; and they could not but be very small. It is true, indeed, the affections and love of their brethren at Leyden were cordial towards them, but they had little power to help them. . . . What could now sustain them but the spirit of God and his grace?2
“We . . . Covenant and Combine Ourselves Together into a Civil Body Politic”
The Pilgrims Exercise Self-Government in America
As the Mayflower rode at anchor in Cape Cod Bay, a shipboard drama played out that would forever affect the Pilgrims, New England, and the culture, laws, and government of America. The Separatist leaders aboard the Mayflower had decided to establish their colony where they had made landfall—at Cape Cod. While the colony was financed by the Merchant Adventurers, its patent had been granted by the Virginia Company of London for a site some 250 miles to the south. Establishing the colony at Cape Cod meant it would be outside of the jurisdiction of the Virginia Company. So the Pilgrims would indeed have to “stand on their own legs,” as Thomas Weston had threatened back in England. In New England, outside the jurisdiction of its patent, the Pilgrim colony would be independent, and would have much more liberty to become whatever its founders envisioned. The decision, however, was not welcomed by everyone aboard the Mayflower. As the ship headed back northward for Cape Cod, some of the Strangers reportedly began muttering about staging a mutiny.
Was the would-be uprising led by Stephen Hopkins, who had reportedly led an unsuccessful mutiny in Bermuda? Or was it encouraged by Christopher Martin, whose term as “governor” of the Mayflower was about to end, or was it instigated by the troublesome “knave” John Billington? No one knows. Neither William Bradford nor apparently anyone else aboard ever identified the potential mutineers—although Bradford did describe their outcry as “discontented and mutinous,” and quoted some of the Strangers as vowing that when they came ashore “none had power to command them.” Despite the bold talk, the mutiny came to nothing, but it did reinforce the colony’s need for government, especially as it would be established outside the authority of the colony’s patent.
While still aboard the Mayflower, the Pilgrims drafted and signed the Mayflower Compact, which would prove to be a cornerstone for law and government in America.
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So, while still aboard the Mayflower, anchored in the waters of Cape Cod, the Pilgrims drafted a compact or constitution for their new colony. It would become known as the Mayflower Compact. It was unusually brief for a founding document, and was a mission statement as well, establishing a precedent for constitutional law in America based on two principles: faith and freedom. In its opening line, the document stated its source of authority: “In the Name of God, Amen.” It also noted that King James, to whom the signers acknowledged their submission, held his royal position “by the Grace of God.” In so stating, it reaffirmed the biblical doctrine that God, not government, is the author of basic human rights, or “unalienable rights,” as the Declaration of Independence would later call them.
“Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith . . . a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the Northern Parts of Virginia”
It also reflected the Judeo-Christian tradition that government should be modeled on “covenant theology”—that a contract or “covenant” should exist between government and the governed in the way that God had established covenants with his people through the ages, according to the Bible. In keeping with this belief, the Compact’s signers vowed to “Covenant and Combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politic” whose core values were intended to establish “just and equal Laws . . . for the general Good of the Colony.” The main purpose of the Plymouth Colony and its government, the Compact unashamedly stated, was to promote “the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith. . . .”
It thus also reflected the biblical worldview of the Reverend John Robinson—the Pilgrims’ pastor. In his farewell message to the Pilgrims, he had predicted that some kind of civil government would be needed for the colony—“a Body Politic,” he called it—and that it should govern in “the Image of the Lord’s power and authority.” When they reached America, Robinson had advised them, they should demonstrate “wisdom and godliness” by electing leaders who demonstrated a “virtuous mind” and honored “the glorious ordinance of the Lord.” Lastly, he had cautioned, “let your wisdom and godliness appear, not only in choosing persons as do entirely love, and will diligently promote the common good, but also in yielding to them all due honor and obedience. . . .”
The Mayflower Compact would prove to be a cornerstone for American culture, law, and government, and was clearly founded on the Higher Law of the Bible rather than upon the whims of man. It stated in full:
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 the Honour 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 do 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 hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini 1620.
“In the Presence of God and one another, [we] Covenant and Combine ourselves together into a Civil Body Politic”
It was an extraordinary act of democratic self-government: a tiny band of colonists in wilderness America had drafted and enacted a governing document for their colony. It was signed by forty-one men—from the well-to-do to laborers—who represented their families and others. Among the signers were the potential mutineers—Stephen Hopkins, John Billington, and Christopher Martin. The forty-one signers would now serve as the colony’s General Court, and their next duty was another exercise in self-government: they elected a governor. It was not Christopher Martin, the bullying “governor” of the Mayflower who was appointed by the Merchant Adventurers. It was John Carver, the church deacon and devoted Separatist leader, who had served as an agent for the voyage with Robert Cushman in London. When Cushman abandoned the voyage, Carver remained, making the voyage with his wife and servants. Respected for his leadership in the Leiden church, Carver had a reputation as a “godly” man who was known for his humility, and was “well approved” by his fellow Separatists. Now, on November 11, 1620, he became the colony’s first governor.3
To serve as governor of their new colony, the Pilgrims elected John Carver, t
heir longtime and respected leader.
ARCHITECT OF THE U.S. CAPITOL
“We Marched through Boughs and Bushes”
The Pilgrims Explore Their Wilderness Home
“The same day,” one of them would recall, “so soon as we could, we set ashore. . . .” Who was the first Pilgrim to set foot in America? No one knows. According to an anonymous 1622 publication entitled Mourt’s Relation, it appears that the first Pilgrim to step on American earth was one of a small party who briefly left the Mayflower to gather firewood on Saturday, November 11. Was it Captain Myles Standish? Governor John Carver? William Bradford? The identity of the first ashore is lost to history—apparently no one thought it important to record names. Mourt’s Relation would be published in London two years later to encourage emigration to the new colony. Eventually, primary authorship would be attributed to Edward Winslow, although William Bradford appears to have written important parts of it, and it also contains the writing of others. According to the booklet, the Pilgrims went ashore that first day because they were out of firewood, and because they also wanted to “see what the land was.” After more than two months at sea, they surely yearned to put their feet on dry land. They came ashore on “a small neck of land” near modern Provincetown, and explored the coastal forest. A shovel’s blade beneath the surface, they were pleased to find “excellent black earth,” and they admiringly observed open woodlands of “oaks, pines, sassafras, juniper, birch, holly, vines, some ash, [and] walnut. . . .” From the woods they toted armloads of cut juniper back to the ship, where they started fires that night and enjoyed a “very sweet and strong” aroma from the burning juniper. The next day was Sunday, which they spent in their customary worship and rest. On Monday, November 13, more of them went ashore, including many of the women, who sorely needed to wash clothes.
The same day that the Mayflower anchored off Cape Cod, the Pilgrims put ashore a small group of men to explore the area. After more than two months at sea, all were eager to set foot on dry land.
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Everywhere around them were the wonders of the wilderness: they saw huge flocks of birds—“the greatest store of fowl that ever we saw.” Offshore, whales repeatedly rose to the surface—so many that Master Jones speculated that a whaling ship could easily harvest “three or four thousand pounds worth of oil.” Shellfish lay on the shoreline in great abundance, and some Pilgrims eagerly gathered and ate them—until they were struck by bouts of nausea. Meanwhile, the carpenters among them set to work repairing a thirty-five-foot-long boat—a shallop—which they had brought in sections from England. They intended to use it to explore the shore of the bay, but soon realized that repairing and reassembling it would take much longer than they expected. Instead, they decided, they would explore the area on foot.
After a day of Sunday worship and rest, more Pilgrims went ashore. On the beach, the men readied themselves for more exploration while the women engaged in a long-awaited Monday washday.
STORIES OF THE PILGRIMS
The next day, Wednesday, November 15, a sixteen-man expedition commanded by Captain Myles Standish went ashore. The concept of the citizen-soldier was commonly accepted in England, and as Puritans, the Separatists undoubtedly viewed a militia as compatible with the biblical doctrine of self-defense. Some of the Pilgrims apparently were militia veterans. They had brought firearms, swords, and body armor with them, so Captain Standish’s party carried itself with a martial bearing. They set off, single file, along the beach, and had barely marched a mile when they encountered a small party of Indians heading their way, accompanied by a dog. It was their first encounter with Native Americans—but it was short-lived: the Indians fled into the seaside forest. The Pilgrims followed their tracks, hoping to talk to them. However, they were unable to catch up with them by nightfall, so they posted guards and camped overnight in the woods.
“When the Indians saw our men following them, they ran away”
The next morning they set out again, trying to follow the Indians’ trail and make contact, but they ran into dense thickets and gave up. They had brought no water with them and by now were suffering from serious thirst. Then they stumbled onto a freshwater spring—their first drinking water in America. There, as recorded in Mourt’s Relation, they “drunk our first New England water with as much delight as ever we drunk drink in all our lives.” Refreshed, they moved out again, heading back toward the shore of the bay. They observed an abundance of wild game, and a lot of wild sassafras, which was highly prized back in England as medicine. At one point they found themselves in a patch of open land marked by “heaps of sand.” They dug into one, uncovering a rotted bow and arrow, and realized they were in an Indian graveyard. Not wanting to offend the natives by disturbing their burial ground, they carefully replaced the objects, covered up the grave, and moved on. Further on, they found signs of earlier, temporary encampments by Europeans—and at one spot they discovered a cast iron kettle left behind by European fishermen, shipwreck survivors, or earlier English explorers. Of more importance to them at the time, they also discovered a large store of Indian corn buried under a mound of sand.
Standing around the uncovered corn in the midst of the wilderness, they engaged in a serious ethical discussion about whether it was morally acceptable to take some of the corn with them back to the Mayflower. They had reached America far behind schedule and were now seriously short of food—and the dried corn could be used to seed a corn crop in the spring. But what first impression would they give to the native peoples if they took their corn? Finally, “after much consultation,” they decided upon a compromise: they would take the corn, but they would pay for it whenever they encountered the Indian owners. So they “concluded to take the kettle and as much of the corn as we could carry away with us. . . .”
The next day—November 17—after a cold, drizzly night around a fire in the woods, they moved on toward the bay. Along the way, they discovered a peculiarly bent sapling, which turned out to be a snare set by the Indians to trap game. Unintentionally, William Bradford stepped into it. It “gave a sudden jerk up,” and Bradford was caught up in the snare. Instead of being alarmed or aggravated, the Pilgrims expressed their admiration for the clever trap “as a very pretty device.” Back on the shore of the bay, they fired their guns to signal the Mayflower, which sent a boat to ferry them back to the ship. Within the pages of Mourt’s Relation, Edward Winslow and William Bradford recorded the three-day expedition—the Pilgrims’ first serious exploration of their New World home:
Wednesday, the 15th of November, they were set ashore; and when they had ordered themselves in the order of a single file and marched about the space of a mile by the sea, they sighted five or six people with a dog coming towards them, who were savages, who, when they saw them, ran into the wood and whistled the dog after them, etc. First they supposed them to be Master Jones, the master, and some of his men, for they were ashore and knew of their coming; but after they knew them to be Indians, they marched after them into the woods, lest other of the Indians should lie in ambush. But when the Indians saw our men following them, they ran away with might and main, and our men turned out of the wood after them—for it was the way they intended to go—but they could not come near them. They followed them that night about ten miles by the trace of their footings, and saw how they had come the same way they went, and at a turning perceived how they ran up a hill to see whether they followed them. At length night came upon them, and they were constrained to take up their lodging. So they set forth three sentinels, and the rest, some kindled a fire, and others fetched wood, and there held our rendezvous that night.
Captain Myles Standish leads a squad of armed Pilgrims into the wilderness. Soon after the Mayflower made landfall, Standish and a sixteen-man party explored the forest overlooking Cape Cod Bay.
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“Because we deemed them graves, we . . . left the rest untouched”
In the morning, so soon as we could se
e the trace, we proceeded on our journey, and had the track until we had compassed the head of a long creek; and there they took into another wood, and we after them, supposing to find some of their dwellings. But we marched through boughs and bushes, and under hills and valleys, which tore our very armor in pieces, and yet could meet with none of them, nor their houses, nor find any fresh water, which we greatly desired and stood in need of; for we brought neither beer nor water with us, and our victuals were only biscuit and Holland cheese, and a little bottle of aqua-vitae, so as we were [severely thirsty]. About ten o’clock we came into a deep valley full of brush, [bayberry], and long grass, through which we found little paths or tracts; and there we saw a deer, and found springs of fresh water, of which we were heartily glad, and sat us down and drunk our first New England water with as much delight as ever we drunk drink in all our lives.
When we had refreshed ourselves we directed our course full south, that we might come to the shore, which within a short while after we did, and there made a fire, that they in the ship might see where we were (as we had direction), and so marched on towards this supposed river. And as we went in another valley, we found a fine clear pond of fresh water, being about a musket-shot broad, and twice as long; there grew also many small vines, and fowl and deer haunted there; there grew much sassafras. From thence we went on and found much plain ground, about fifty acres, fit for the plow, and some signs where the Indians had formerly planted their corn. After this some thought it best, for nearness of the river, to go down and travel on the sea sands, by which means some of our men were tired and lagged behind. So we stayed and gathered them up, and struck into the land again; where we found a little path to certain heaps of sand, one whereof was covered with old mats, and had a wooden thing like a mortar [turned upside down] on the top of it, and an earthen pot laid in a little hole at the end thereof. We, musing what it might be, digged and found a bow, and, as we thought, arrows, but they were rotten. We supposed there were many other things; but because we deemed them graves, we put in the bow again, and made it up as it was, and left the rest untouched, because we thought it would be odious unto them to ransack their sepulchers.
