Portsmouth Compact


The Portsmouth Compact was a document signed on March 7, 1638 that established the settlement of Portsmouth, which is now a town in the state of Rhode Island.

History

The document was written and signed by a group of Christian dissidents who were seeking religious freedom from the governmental oversight of the Massachusetts Bay Colony by moving to Aquidneck Island to set up a new colony. Among this group was Anne Hutchinson, who had been banished from Massachusetts Bay following the Antinomian Controversy there.
The purpose of the Portsmouth Compact was to set up a new, independent colony that was Christian in character but non-sectarian in governance. It has been called "the first instrument for governing as a true democracy."

Text

The text of the Portsmouth Compact:
In the margin are the following Bible citations:
[Image:Portsmouth Compact.JPG|right|thumbnail|Plaque commemorating the Portsmouth Compact]
It was signed by 23 men:
The last four names show erasure marks or strikethroughs for unknown reasons: Thomas Clarke, John Johnson, William Hall, and John Brightman. The first three of those four were among the first settlers of Newport, arriving in 1638, and the same may be true of John Brightman. William Hall's name may have erasure marks due to his disagreement with Portsmouth authorities soon after the town's establishment. Hall is said to have stated, "A pastor is not needed to figure out one's religion as I can read the bible for myself" and "one's deeds and action ye are known in Heaven."

Compact of Loyalty

The Compact of Loyalty was written and signed April 30, 1639.
"We whose names are underwritten do acknowledge ourselves the legal subjects of His Majesty King Charles, and in his name do hereby bind ourselves into a civil body politic, unto his laws according to matters of justice."
Signatories
  • William Hutchinson
  • Samuell Gorton
  • Samuel Hutchinson
  • John Wickes
  • Richard Maggson
  • Thomas Spiser
  • John Roome
  • John Sloffe
  • Thomas Beddar
  • Erasmus Bullock
  • Philip Sherman
  • Ralph Earle
  • Robert Potter
  • Nathanyell Potter
  • Wm Heausens
  • George Cleare
  • George Lawton
  • Anthony Payne
  • Jobe Haukins
  • Richard Awards
  • John More
  • Nicholas Browne
  • William Richardson
  • John Trippe
  • Thomas Layton
  • Robert Stainton
  • John Briggs
  • James Davice
The names of the signatories above were copied verbatim from the Compact of Loyalty. Note that the only names in common with the signatories of the Portsmouth compact is that of William Hutchinson and Philip Shearman/Sherman.