Signing of the Compact by Edward Percy Moran

Thanksgiving is one week away so I thought today would be a good day to begin Thanksgiving posts. The next week will include a short history of Thanksgiving told through paintings like this one, as well as fun craft projects.

When the pilgrims landed in the New World near Cape Cod, Massachusetts, they decided they needed to set up a government because other colonies had already failed without one. Most importantly, all the pilgrims needed to agree to follow the laws. At this time, “all people” referred only to men. The pilgrims created the Mayflower Compact as a written agreement to follow the laws of their new colony. It did not list what the laws would be.
The Mayflower Compact was signed by the 41 men on the ship before they went ashore. Edward Percy Moran’s The Signing of the Compact in the Cabin of the Mayflower, shown here, is one artist’s idea of what this might have looked like.

Edward Percy Moran was born in 1862 and studied art under his father who specialized in marine art. Edward Percy Moran enjoyed painting historical subjects, particularly colonial scenes like this one.

Tomorrow we’ll continue our discovery of Thanksgiving through art.

Return to main page.

Current NaNoWriMo Word Count:

22707 / 50000 words. 45% done!

Did only the bare minimum today
but it was enough to not lose ground.