But, all this is not to deny Plymouth her fame, even though the town
seal of Provincetown does bear the words, “Birthplace of American
Liberty.” That claim has been a bone of contention for a long time.
And, when a Massachusetts State official was asked some years ago why
the Provincetown phase in the story of the founding of the nation
had received so little attention, he could only suggest, “Perhaps it
happened that way because Plymouth was 300 years ahead of Provincetown
in her advertising.”
Actually, however, the signing of the Mayflower Compact was not the
first step taken to establish free Government in the New World. Our
democratic government was first introduced at Jamestown Colony the year
previous to the Pilgrims’ arrival on Cape Cod. There, on June 30, 1619,
America’s first legislative body convened.
John Quincy Adams said of the Mayflower Compact: “This is perhaps the
only instance in human history, of that positive, original social
concept, which speculative philosophers have imagined as the only
legitimate source of government.”
In Mourt’s Relation there is Governor Bradford’s simple, though
picturesque description of Provincetown Harbor and ancient Cape Cod as
the Pilgrims discovered the scene: