What was the Mayflower Compact?

• A. It was a charter for a royal colony in Virginia.
• B. It was the first agreement for self-government in America.
• C. It was a treaty with Native American tribes.
• D. It was a code of laws for English towns.

Answer: (B)

The Mayflower Compact shows an early move toward self-government based on a social contract. In 1620, the Pilgrims signed this agreement to govern themselves as a civil body politic, creating laws for the general good and choosing or agreeing to follow them by majority consent. They did this because they were about to settle far from English political control and needed a framework to maintain order and survival. It wasn’t a royal charter, a treaty with Native tribes, or a code of laws for English towns. It was a pact among the settlers to establish legitimate authority from the people who would be governed, laying groundwork for later democratic principles in America.