SETTLING NORTH AMERICA 1497 1732
FOUNDING OF THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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the demands of the colonists were overwhelming and they were getting fed up
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The ship landed in cape cod instead of the colony of Virginia. cape cod hadn’t been established yet so they were on their own in the wilderness. They needed to make sure no one rebelled.
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they were an independent group and wanted to punish other settlers in that area
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None of the above
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Detailed explanation-1: -Because they chose to remain where they landed in New England, they needed a new permission (called a patent) to settle there. On November 11, 1620, needing to maintain order and establish a civil society while they waited for this new patent, the adult male passengers signed the Mayflower Compact.
Detailed explanation-2: -But after treacherous shoals and storms drove their ship off course, the settlers landed in Massachusetts instead, near Cape Cod, outside of Virginia’s jurisdiction. Knowing life without laws could prove catastrophic, colonist leaders created the Mayflower Compact to ensure a functioning social structure would prevail.
Detailed explanation-3: -It simply bound the signers into a “Civil Body Politic” for the purpose of passing “just and equal Laws . . . for the general good of the Colony.” But those few words expressed the idea of self-government for the first time in the New World.
Detailed explanation-4: -Forty-one men signed the Compact, beginning with Governor John Carver and ending with Edward Lester. Nine adult males on board did not sign the document; some had been hired as seamen only for one year and others may have been too ill to write.