Because it was the first document to create self-government in the New World, the Mayflower Compact was significant. It continued in operation until Plymouth Colony joined Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691.
On November 11, 1620, the 41 "genuine" Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact, which later served as the Plymouth Colony's founding constitution.
The English immigrants who came to the New World aboard the Mayflower formed a set of guidelines for self-governance known as the Mayflower Compact. They planned to anchor in northern Virginia when the Pilgrims and other immigrants sailed for America in 1620. But after their ship was forced off course by perilous shoals and storms, the immigrants instead made landfall in Massachusetts, close to Cape Cod, outside of Virginia's control.
The Mayflower Compact was designed by colonist leaders to ensure that a functioning social structure would prevail because they were aware that life without laws could be disastrous.
