The Mayflower Compact was a short agreement signed in 1620 by male passengers aboard the Mayflower before they settled at Plymouth. It mattered because the settlers were outside the area covered by their original patent, so they needed a way to create order and authority. The Compact showed that a political community could form a government based on consent and shared rules.
It became an important early example of self-government in the American political tradition.
The document did not create a modern democracy, and it did not give political rights to everyone in the colony. Instead, it established that the signers would combine into a civil body politic and make laws for the general good of the colony. Its power came from the agreement of the signers to follow rules they helped authorize.
Later Americans looked back on the Mayflower Compact as one step in the long development of representative government, written constitutions, and consent of the governed.
Key Facts
- The Mayflower Compact was signed in 1620 aboard the Mayflower near present-day Cape Cod.
- 41 adult male passengers signed the Compact.
- The Compact created a civil body politic, meaning a political community with shared authority.
- Its central idea was government by consent, meaning people agree to follow laws made for their community.
- The Compact promised to create just and equal laws for the general good of the colony.
- It influenced later American ideas about self-government, written agreements, and consent of the governed.
Vocabulary
- Mayflower Compact
- A 1620 agreement signed by Mayflower passengers to form a government and obey laws for the Plymouth Colony.
- Self-government
- A system in which people in a community take part in creating or approving the rules that govern them.
- Consent of the governed
- The idea that a government's authority comes from the agreement of the people it governs.
- Civil body politic
- A group of people organized as one political community with shared laws and responsibilities.
- Plymouth Colony
- The English settlement founded by the Mayflower passengers in 1620 in present-day Massachusetts.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Calling the Mayflower Compact the first U.S. Constitution is wrong because the United States did not exist in 1620 and the Compact only governed the Plymouth settlers.
- Saying everyone aboard the Mayflower signed it is wrong because only 41 adult male passengers signed the document.
- Claiming it created full democracy is wrong because political participation was limited and many people, including women and servants, did not have equal political power.
- Ignoring the colony's legal problem is wrong because the Compact was needed partly because the settlers landed outside the area covered by their original permission to settle.
Practice Questions
- 1 If 102 passengers were aboard the Mayflower and 41 signed the Compact, what percentage of passengers signed it? Round to the nearest whole percent.
- 2 The Mayflower Compact was signed in 1620. The Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776. How many years passed between these two documents?
- 3 Explain how the Mayflower Compact shows the idea of consent of the governed, even though it did not include everyone in the colony equally.