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in: Pre-statehood history of Rhode Island, History of the Thirteen Colonies, United States historical documents, 1638 in the Thirteen Colonies

Portsmouth Compact

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Portsmouth Compact document

Portsmouth Compact - 1638

The Portsmouth Compact was a document signed on March 7, 1638 that established the settlement of Portsmouth, Rhode Island It was the first document in American history that severed both political and religious ties with England.

History[]

The document was written and signed in Boston by a group of men who followed Anne Hutchinson, a banished Christian dissident seeking religious freedom apart from the governmental oversight of the Massachusetts Bay Colony by moving to Aquidneck Island to set up a new colony.

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 1 and Signers: Portsmouth Compact[]

Portsmouth Compact Plaque 1936

Plaque commemorating the Portsmouth Compact 1638-1936

The text 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 First Chronicles 11:3 Second Kings 11:17


It was signed by 23 men:

  1. William Coddington (1601-1678) - Magistrate, 1st Governor of Newport RI
  2. John Clarke
  3. William Hutchinson (1586-1641) (husband of Anne Hutchinson, dissident preacher)
  4. John Coggeshall (1601-1665) - 1st president of combined RI Colony
  5. William Aspinwall
  6. Samuel Wilbore
  7. John Porter
  8. John Sanford (c1605-1653) - 2nd Governor of Newport & Portsmouth Plantation
  9. Edward Hutchinson, Jr (Major) - Magistrate, oldest child of William and Anne Hutchison
  10. Thomas Savage (1607-1682) - an English soldier and New England colonist and merchant, attaining the rank of major in King Philip's War.
  11. William Dyre (husband of Mary Dyer)
  12. William Freeborn
  13. Philip Sherman - Rhode Island Colony Recorder
  14. John Walker
  15. Richard Carder (1618-1674) -
  16. William Baulstone (1605-1678) -
  17. Edward Hutchinson, Sr. - Uncle to William and Anne Hutchinson
  18. Henry Bull (1609-1693) X his marke
  19. Randall Holden (1612-1692) - early colonial governor, md Frances Dungan, AKA: Mother of Governors.
  20. Thomas Clarke (brother of John)
  21. John Johnson
  22. William Hall
  23. John Brightman

The last four names, for unknown reasons, show erasure marks and/or strikethroughs. Of those four—Thomas Clarke, John Johnson, William Hall and John Brightman—the first three are known to have been among the first settlers of Newport, Rhode Island, arriving in 1638, and the same may be true of John Brightman.

Text 2 and Signers: Compact of Loyalty[]

A second Compact of Loyalty was written and signed April 30, 1639, and included the following names: The names below are those of the signers (copied verbatim) of the Compact of Loyalty, Apr. 30, 1639, which was as follows:

"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."

Signers

  1. William Hutchinson (1586-1641) (husband of Anne Hutchinson, dissident preacher)
  2. Samuel Gorton (1592-1677) - founder of Warwick RI
  3. Samuel Hutchinson
  4. John Wickes
  5. Richard Maggson
  6. Thomas Spiser
  7. John Roome (his mark)
  8. John Sloffe (his mark)
  9. Thomas Beddar (his mark)
  10. Erasmus Bullock
  11. Sampson Shotten
  12. Ralph Earle
  13. Robert Potter (1608-1655) =
  14. Nathanyell Potter
  15. Wm Heausens
  16. George Cleare
  17. George Lawton
  18. Anthony Payne (his mark)
  19. Jobe Haukins
  20. Richard Awards
  21. John More
  22. Nicholas Browne
  23. William Richardson
  24. John Trippe
  25. Thomas Layton
  26. Robert Stainton (his mark)
  27. John Briggs (his mark)
  28. James Davice

Summary: 1637 Portsmouth Compact Signer[]

Portsmouth Compact Plaque 1936

Plaque commemorating the Portsmouth Compact 1638-1936

He was one of 23 signatories of the 1637 Portsmouth Civil Compact founding Portsmouth, Rhode Island, the 2nd settlement in the new colony of Rhode Island. This group, most of were caught up in the events of the Antinomian Controversy from 1636 to 1638, had followed the family of dissident preacher Anne Hutchinson and her family from Massachusetts Bay Colony seeking religious freedom. This document was the first compact to declare both political and religious separation.

See Also[]

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