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


[[Image:Portanouth Conpact - plaque.JPG|left|thumbnail|right|Plaque commemorating the Portsmouth Compact]]
[[Image:Portsmouth_Compact.JPG|left|thumbnail|right|Plaque commemorating the Portsmouth Compact]]


The document was written and signed in [[Boston]] by a group of men who followed [[Anne Hutchinson]] and were ready to move to [[Aquidneck Island]] to set up a new colony. They had been disarmed by the [[Puritan]] leaders of the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]].
The document was written and signed in [[Boston]] by a group of men who followed [[Anne Hutchinson]] and were ready to move to [[Aquidneck Island]] to set up a new colony. They had been disarmed by the [[Puritan]] leaders of the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]].

Revision as of 22:28, 12 January 2008

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.

Plaque commemorating the Portsmouth Compact

The document was written and signed in Boston by a group of men who followed Anne Hutchinson and were ready to move to Aquidneck Island to set up a new colony. They had been disarmed by the Puritan leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

The purpose of the Portsmouth Compact was to set up a new, independent colony that was Christian in character but non-sectarian. It has been called "the first instrument for governing as a true democracy." [1]

The text [2] of the Portsmouth Compact:

The 7th Day of the First Month, 1638.
We whose names are underwritten do hereby solemnly in the presence of Jehovah incorporate ourselves into a Bodie Politick and as He shall help, will submit our persons, lives and estates unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and to all those perfect and most absolute laws of His given in His Holy Word of truth, to be guided and judged thereby.

In the margin are the following Bible citations:

Exodus 24:3-4

Second Chronicles 11:3

Second Kings 11:17

It is signed by the following men:

Sources