The Mayflower Compact
Signed on November 11, 1620
Mayflower Compact & Influence on the government of the United States
- The first agreement for self-government to be created and enforced in America
- The Mayflower Compact is a written agreement composed by a consensus of the new Settlers arriving at New Plymouth
- “Drawn up with fair and equal laws, for the general good of the settlement and with the will of the majority. The Mayflower’s passengers knew that the New World’s earlier settlers failed due to a lack of government. They hashed out the content and eventually composed the Compact for the sake of their own survival. Arriving at what is now Provincetown, Mass., on Nov. 11 (Nov. 21, new-style calendar), all 41 of the adult male passengers signed the famous “Mayflower Compact” as the boat lay at anchor in that Cape Cod harbor."
- The foundational document for the Plymouth Colony
- The fact that it was a covenant whereby the settlers would subordinate their rights to follow laws passed by the government to ensure protection and survival made it a unique document
- As previously stated, it set a precedent and was very influential document for the founding fathers as they created the US Constitution
- It was signed on board the Mayflower, little bit after the anchor off Provincetown Harbor
Location: Provincetown Harbor