《五月花号公约》中的早期北美殖民地民主观及其影响

Democracy of Early North American Colony in The Mayflower Compact and Its Influence

Abstract

The Mayflower Compact is a document signed by the passengers of the Mayflower on their way to the New Land, the document greatly influenced American history. By signing this document, the passengers on the Mayflower voluntarily enter into a civil body politick. According to this document, every man is equally created. This is a manifestation of democracy which has profound influence on early North American colonies. From this idea, the United States has laid the ground for the establishment of a nation with equal rights for all citizens, and people’s voluntary obedience to the government.

Based on the text of The Mayflower Compact, this thesis analyzes democracy of Early North American colony in The Mayflower Compact and its influence. There are three parts in this thesis. The first part introduces the historical background of the democracy in the Mayflower Compact. The second part analyzes the text of the Mayflower Compact, and mainly focuses on the concept of “the civil body politick” advocated in the document, and summarizes the idea of democracy reflected in this concept. The third part centres on the essences of democracy in early North American colonies, which are the covenantal thought, the people’s sovereignty, the principle of ruling by laws, self-governing and the idea of power-limited government, the third part also analyzes how these ideas influenced the outbreak of American revolutionary war and the improvement of U.S constitution with some historical events.

Key words：democracy, The Mayflower Compact, civil body politick, North America colony