Editing Mayflower Compact (section)

== Text ==
[[File:Mayflower Compact Bradford.jpg|right|thumb|Bradford's transcription of the Compact]]

The original document has been lost,<ref name="Bowman" /> but three versions exist from the 17th century: printed in ''[[Mourt's Relation]]'' (1622),<ref name="Mourt1622" /><ref name="Mourt1865" /> which was reprinted in ''Purchas his Pilgrimes'' (1625);<ref name=Purchas1906/> hand-written by [[William Bradford (1590-1657)|William Bradford]] in his journal ''[[Of Plimoth Plantation]]'' (1646);<ref name="Bradford1901" /> and printed by Bradford's nephew [[Nathaniel Morton]] in ''New-Englands Memorial'' (1669).<ref name="Bowman" /> The three versions differ slightly in wording and significantly in spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.<ref name="Mourt1865" /> William Bradford wrote the first part of ''Mourt's Relation'', including its version of the compact, so he wrote two of the three versions. The wording of those two versions is quite similar, unlike that of Morton. Bradford's handwritten manuscript is kept in a vault at the State Library of Massachusetts.<ref name="vault" />

The text as presented in modern sources is as follows:
{{blockquote|'''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'', &c. 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 Politick, 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.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Federal and State Constitutions Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws of the States, Territories, and Colonies Now or Heretofore Forming the United States of America |date=June 30, 1906 |editor-first=Francis Newton |editor-last=Thorpe |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Government Printing Office}} Cited in {{cite web|url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/mayflower.asp|title=Mayflower Compact: 1620. Agreement Between the Settlers at New Plymouth: 1620|website=Avalon Project |publisher=Yale Law School|access-date=18 February 2018}}</ref>}}

The document was signed on {{Old Style Date|November 21|3=November 11}}.<ref name=":0" />