RFI Executive Vice President Eric Patterson wrote an article this week for WORLD contrasting the momentous influences of the Mayflower Compact of 1620 on America’s founding and constitutional order with “the new ‘idea’ of American history [in] the notorious New York Times 1619 Project.”

After providing an overview of the winding path that led the Pilgrims and other colonists to voyage to the New World aboard the Mayflower, Patterson highlights the tremendous historical achievement the Compact was:

A stunning fact is that the Pilgrims wrote their compact long before the writings of the major social contract theorists that historians often cite as influential on the American Founders—thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes (1651), John Locke (1689), and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1755).

Recognizing the need for a prudential approach to bringing together the Separatists and the others on board to establish law, preserve liberty, and provide for the common defense, the Mayflower Compact was written and signed by the 41 Separatists as well as the rest of the male passengers. …The compact included the basic ingredients for self-governance as reflected in a covenanted agreement representing all individuals and families.

Moreover, even though the Separatists were zealously religious, they established a political community that protected their faith and allowed for full political membership for those outside their faith community…in sharp contrast to religious persecution in England…

Read the full article: The Mayflower Compact (1620) vs. The 1619 Project.