AP US History
The Mayflower Compact was a document created by the Pilgrims aboard the ship Mayflower in 1620, which established a self-governing colony in Plymouth. It served as an early form of democratic government in the English colonies.
The Mayflower Compact emerged in 1620 when passengers of the Mayflower, English Puritans known as Pilgrims, reached North America and found themselves outside the jurisdiction of the Virginia Company. To establish a framework for governance in their new settlement at Plymouth, Massachusetts, they drafted and signed a compact that would create a self-governing colony based on majority rule.
The Mayflower Compact is significant as an early form of social contract and a pioneering assertion of self-governance in the English colonies. It set a precedent for future colonial governance and democratic principles in North America. Its collaborative approach to law and order laid foundational concepts that would influence the development of American political institutions and democratic practices.