The 1620 Project

by Mark C. Dillon: This Wednesday, November 11th, in addition to honoring our veterans, America will celebrate a once-in-a lifetime event—the quad-centennial of the Mayflower Compact signed in 1620.

Why celebrate the Mayflower Compact? Four hundred years ago religious freedom seeking Pilgrims had arrived in the New World near Cape Cod, far from their Virginia destination. This and previous misfortunes lead many on board to believe their English charter with the Virginia Company null and void. In order to prevent a mutiny and quickly establish a set of rules for everyone to live by—even before a land settlement was established—Pilgrim leaders signed a new agreement aboard the Mayflower on November 11, 1620.

The Pilgrim leaders drew upon the ancient tradition of social contracts or covenants between parties to guide them. This particular agreement was unique for several reasons: it was the first written example of self-government in the New World, it was a contract between individuals and not the monarchy, and it also ensured a working social structure where none existed. In fact, it worked so well for the new colony, it remained in effect until 1691. The agreement eventually became known as the Mayflower Compact.

Historians and our Founders consider the Mayflower Compact the forerunner to our Declaration of Independence and US Constitution. In 1802 Senator John Quincy Adams wrote, “That is (the Mayflower Compact) perhaps, the only instance in human history of that positive, original social compact, which speculative philosophers have imagined as the only legitimate source of government. Here was unanimous and personal assent, by all the individuals of the community, to the association by which they became a nation.”

For all Americans who love our Constitution and especially this Veterans Day, John Quincy Adams gives us ample reason to celebrate the Mayflower Compact signed 400 years earlier on that fateful November 11, 1620. Sir Winston Churchill, two time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, historian, and one of only eight to receive honorary US Citizenship gives us another, “A nation that forgets its past has no future.”

As we dutifully honor our military veterans let us celebrate four centuries of the Mayflower Compact's impact, “that positive, original social compact…as the only legitimate source of government,” that lead directly to the founding of our great Nation. Especially during challenging times Americans need to celebrate their beautiful past as Winston Churchill so wisely reminds us. Doing so we will continue to be this worlds ‘shining city on a hill’…and a timeless model of self government for future Pilgrims seeking other new worlds.
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Mark C. Dillon is a retired Maj Gen, USAF and Defense Leadership and Educational Consultant.

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