Essay --

The Importance of the Mayflower Compact The Mayflower Compact was written as a temporary form of government due to the unfair treatment that was endured by some of the Mayflower occupants. They also felt that the order should come from someone of much higher authority i.e. the king. The colonists were also unruly due to the lack of government; therefore some of the colonist thought they could do what they preferred. But by signing of the Mayflower Compact, did put the end to all the unrest while aboard the Mayflower. After John Smith landed at Plymouth, they felt they had landed at a place that was not controlled by London (the king). The mayflower carried a hundred and two passengers. They had travelled about 3,000 miles only to land north of their destination. They had hoped to begin a colony out of the mouth of the Hudson River the site of today’s New York City. This would have placed the colony within the geographic boundaries the king outlined in the Virginia Company of Plymouth’s charter. Some group of businessmen invested money to start the colony. In return they hoped to profit from the products of the New World. The company’s charter outlined how the settlement would be governed. But the Mayflower’s passengers had drifted outside the charter’s boundaries. Now they were off the ship of Cape Cod on November 9 1620, with no laws to govern them. The passengers list showed that the colonists needed to create a government. Out of the hundred and two passengers’ fourth-one were pilgrims seeking a place they could practice their religion. They had separated from the Church of England over religious differences. The pilgrims had lived for a time in Holland, now they hoped to make a new start. Basically these pilgrims need... ...Bradford's nephew" in New England's Memorial (1669). The three versions had a difference in the wording, spelling, capitalizing and punctuation. The compact created the idea of a social contact. A social contract is an actual or hypothetical compact between the ruled and their rules that defines the rights and duties of each. Although specific duties were not assigned to each colonist, a concept of higher order was established by the election of the first governor of the New Plymouth. It was not until the American Revolution that the Mayflower Compact received much attention. At this time the new nation began looking back to the roots of this self-government. Today the compact is often viewed as the first example of the American democracy as a social contract. But it is also understood that idea come from the practical need for unity to service in the wildness.