The
Portsmouth Compact was a document signed on March 7, 1638 that established the settlement of
Portsmouth, which is now a town in the state of
Rhode Island. It was the first document in history that severed both political and religious ties with mother England.
History
The document was written and signed in
Boston by a group of men who followed
Anne Hutchinson, a banished Christian dissident from Massachuttets, to seek religious freedom in Rhode Island. The signers were ready to move to
Aquidneck Island to set up a new colony and had been disarmed by the
Puritan leaders of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony.
The purpose of the Portsmouth Compact was to set up a new, independent colony that was Christian in character but non-sectarian in governance. It has been called "the first instrument for governing as a true democracy."
Text
The text of the Portsmouth Compact:
- The 7th Day of the First Month, 1638.
- We whose names are underwritten do hereby solemnly in the presence of Jehovah incorporate ourselves into a Bodie Politick and as He shall help, will submit our persons, lives and estates unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and to all those perfect and most absolute laws of His given in His Holy Word of truth, to be guided and judged thereby.
In the margin are the following Bible citations:
It was signed by 23 men:
Read More