November 1620Primary sourceWell documented
The Mayflower Compact
On the timeline · around November 1620 ·
What happened
Before landing at Plymouth, 41 of the Mayflower's passengers signed a short covenant binding themselves into a 'civil body politic' to make and obey 'just and equal laws' for the good of the colony. The Pilgrims drafted it because, blown off course, they had landed outside the jurisdiction of their charter.
Why it matters
The Mayflower Compact is often seen as an early seed of American self-government — the idea that legitimate authority rests on the consent of the governed — that would flower in the Revolution and the Constitution.