Happy Thanksgiving

In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are under-written, 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, etc.

Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor 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 of another, covenant and combine our selves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to 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 hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the eleventh of November [New Style, November 21], in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Dom. 1620. Learn more at Pilgrim Hall

The Pilgrims set out for Virginia but ended up in Massachusetts Bay. Since they did not have a Royal Charter to settle there they made the Compact to govern themselves. Often cited as thye first state constituion precursor of the rights claimed in the Declaration of Independence.


Of course several places claim that they had the real first Thanksgiving. Jay Anderson Pro Ecclesia * Pro Familia * Pro Civitate makes a case fo his native Virginia and a better case for St. Augustine Florida.

Related:
Why don't you speak for yourself, John?
George Washington's Thanksgiving Day Presidential Proclamation.