American history is remarkable because of the remarkable people who shaped it. Unlike most other national histories, almost all of those who helped build and shape the American nation were “commoners,” or from the common people, but they lived uncommon lives. One of the first of these was William Bradford, who may have been the person most responsible for setting the course America would take.
William Bradford became a leader of the second English colony in North America at Plymouth Rock. He might be called the first to be a Founding Father of the American Republic. Fathers beget their DNA to future generations, and the DNA of the American Republic has abundant evidence of the extraordinary influence of this man.
Bradford was born in 1590 in England. Before he was a teen he attended a religious service of the Separatist movement. This was a radical branch of the Puritan movement that advocated complete separation from the Church of England. This led to a persecution that caused many in the movement to flee to the Netherlands where they found more tolerance for their faith. After spending more than a decade with this group, Bradford became a leading figure in the movement.
As persecution began to close in on the Puritans in Holland, Bradford sailed on the Mayflower to the new world with those chosen to help establish a second English colony. It was supposed to be located close to the colony in Jamestown in Virginia, but the Mayflower was blown off course by storms and landed near what is today Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Knowing that they had landed beyond the domain assigned to The Virginia Company that had given them their charter, and therefore, were beyond its legal jurisdiction, they knew they had to have some basis of government and laws or they would descend into chaos. To remedy this, they decided to come together to agree on a basis for governing the colony. This led to the writing of one of the most important documents in history.
The one hundred and two colonists on the Mayflower were all considered “commoners” with the exception of one nobleman. These included merchants, craftsmen, indentured servants, and nearly thirty young adults and orphans. Most were Christians, forty-one were Puritans, but the rest were not strongly affiliated with either the Puritans or the Church of England. Together they drafted what became known as The Mayflower Compact, the first written by-laws for self-government in the new world, and the precursor of our Constitution.
This simple document was born out of a unity found by these diverse people in their new land that would bring new challenges. Our founding documents, The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and The Bill of Rights—the basis of our government—bear the same hallmark of simplicity, clarity, and effectiveness as The Mayflower Compact. It is not known who actually authored this amazing document, but historians are convinced it was at least strongly influenced by William Bradford. It is very much like his basic nature—simple, clear, direct, fair, and considerate of the well-being of all.
Bradford was elected the colony’s governor after the first year, and was re-elected each year thereafter for thirty of its next thirty-one years. For this reason, he was also the main one responsible for enacting this agreement in the colony.
Other characteristics used to describe Bradford were that he was kind, approachable, generous, and tolerant with those who disagreed with him. He was also a man of vision, initiative, and resolve. All of these sprang from his deep devotion to God and to the Scriptures that he studied continually, and that his life revolved around.
For all of Bradford’s piety, he was always tolerant of those who did not share his faith and was deeply committed to religious liberty, including the freedom to not be religious. This was remarkable after all of the religious intolerance he had suffered for most of his life. Instead of becoming bitter or reactionary, he became devoted to being of “a different spirit” that demonstrated the love and mercy of God.
America was destined to be a place where differences were respected, could be shared openly, and those who held to them treated with respect and civility, as long as they were not seditious, or threatened the peace and order. Along with this tolerant spirit toward different beliefs, there would from time to time arise within the Puritans those who were dominant and controlling in their leadership. As Jesus taught, tares will be sown among the wheat, and they must be allowed to grow up together. However, He promised that at the end of the age the tares will be gathered into bundles and then destroyed, which seems to be happening now.
As The Mayflower Compact was a seed that would grow into The Constitution and Bill of Rights, these documents would likewise be amazingly simple and brief, yet able to protect our liberty and keep the young nation on course for centuries. For simplicity and brevity to accomplish so much, these remain some of the most remarkable documents ever composed.
As the Scripture warns, “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (II Corinthians 11:3). It seems that the crises and problems we now face with our government have been the result of departing from the simplicity of our founding documents by those whose tendency is to complicate government and to micro-manage the people instead of trusting them with freedom.
Consider this: The U.S. Constitution is only 7,818 words, including all of the amendments. This is about fifty pages in a normal size font. Now consider that the regulations on just the sale of cabbage is estimated to be about two hundred pages, and the annually published Code of Federal Regulations has now surpassed two hundred thousand pages. Returning to clear and concise language in place of the legalese and bureaucratic gibberish that has begun to smother our lives is obviously an important step in returning to the liberty we were first endowed with as a nation.
It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is today, can guess what it will be tomorrow. –Alexander Hamilton
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© 2020 by Rick Joyner. All rights reserved.
