Mayflower Compact

The Mayflower Compact, originally titled Agreement Between the Settlers of New Plymouth, was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the men aboard the Mayflower, consisting of Separatist Puritans, adventurers, and tradesmen. Although the agreement contained a pledge of loyalty to the King, the Puritans and other Protestant Separatists were dissatisfied with the state of the Church of England, the limited extent of the English Reformation and reluctance of King James I of England to enforce further reform.

The Mayflower Compact was signed aboard ship on November 21 [O.S. November 11], 1620. Signing the covenant were 41 of the ship's 101 passengers; the Mayflower was anchored in Provincetown Harbor within the hook at the northern tip of Cape Cod.