Most of us have probably not even thought about the Mayflower Compact since elementary school. The Compact was the document drawn up by the passengers on the ship "Mayflower" after it reached what was to become the colony of Plymouth. The voyage of the "Mayflower" was supposed to transport the religious separatists we call the Pilgrims to the British settlement of Virginia. Virginia was defined as the area of North America along the east coast from the Hudson River in New York and to the south.

The Pilgrims had separated themselves from the Anglican Church and had left England for Holland about 12 years prior to deciding to settle in the Virginia colony. They had chartered two ships, the Mayflower and the Speedwell to make the voyage. The Speedwell was declared unseaworthy and was abandoned with the voyage beginning Sept. 6, 1620. The trip was 66 days of severe discomfort and sickness for the 108 travelers.

Storms and rough seas hampered the voyage of the Mayflower as it tried to pass Cape Cod and enter Long Island sound. The decision was made to return to the tip of Cape Cod to what would become Provincetown. There they searched for fresh water and food and searched for a place to settle. They then sailed west to land at what they named Plymouth after the port they had sailed from.

The Mayflower Compact was drafted aboard the ship to establish a form of government and set rules for the new colony. The religious passengers were the primary authors of the document called the Mayflower Compact. The Compact would later be seen as a founding document upon which the Declaration of Independence would be written.

We remember the Pilgrims' celebration of their survival called Thanksgiving, but this small group also wrote the birth of what would become the United States. Only about half had survived the first year and the Mayflower Compact would establish the framework for what followed.

Jack Dragoni attended Boston College and served in the U.S. Army in Berlin and Vietnam. He lives in Chaffee, Missouri.