The Mayflower Compact

World History.

The Original Agreement (The "Seven Articles")

Negotiated initially in early 1620, this draft was acceptable to the Pilgrim congregation in Leiden. It balanced investor profit with the colonists' desire for eventual private ownership:

• Work Schedule: Colonists would work for the company four days a week and have two days for their own private employment to build personal homes and grow food.
• Property Rights: At the end of the seven-year contract, all "houses, lands, and goods" improved by the planters would remain undivided and wholly theirs.
• Valuation: Every person over 16 was rated at £10 toward the company stock.
• Backstory: This version reflected the Pilgrims' observation of the failure of Jamestown, where total communal living had led to starvation. They insisted on incentives for individual labor.

The Revised Agreement (The "Weston Changes")

Just before departure in July 1620, Thomas Weston unilaterally altered the contract. Robert Cushman, fearing the loss of the ship and supplies, felt compelled to initial these changes without the congregation's consent, causing a major schism:

• Work Schedule: Eliminated the two days of private time. All time (except Sunday) was now company time.
• Property Rights: At the end of the seven years, the accumulated capital (houses, lands, improved fields) would be divided equally between the Adventurers and the Colonists. The Pilgrims would not automatically own the homes they built.
• Residency: The Adventurers reserved the right to send more people later who would share in the division of assets, diluting the original colonists' shares.
• Backstory: When Carver and the Leiden elders saw these changes, they refused to sign and threatened to abandon the voyage. Cushman wrote desperate letters defending his descision as a necessity to avoid total financial ruin, arguing they had no time to find new investors. The Pilgrims eventually sailed under protest, refusing to formally sign the altered contract until years later, which led to significant friction and the eventual buyout in 1627.