After failed attempts to reach the mouth of the Hudson River, a decision was made to find a suitable place inside Cape Cod Bay.  Because they were not in the area that the King had given them permission to settle, they were no longer necessarily bound by this patent. On November 11, 1620,  a document was drafted (possibly by William Brewster and John Carver)and signed by most of the  adult free male passengers that “combine ourselves together into a civil body politic…to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal laws”.  What is extraordinary about this document is that it is one of the early examples of the beginnings of a democratic government in America. Unfortunately, the original document did not survive but was first published in Mourt’s Relation which was a pamphlet published in1621. In 1669, it was reprinted in Nathiel Morton’s New England’s Memorial but more names were added as possible signers,bringing the total signers to 41.  This agreement became known as the Mayflower Compact in 1793. True to the word of the Mayflower Compact, the governing body of Plimoth colony was elected by the Freemen without influence from the crown nor the Merchant Adventurers thus becoming the first self governing colony in America.

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