USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Mayflower Compact was important because it was the first document to establish self-government in the New World. It remained active until 1691 when Plymouth Colony became part of Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Detailed explanation-2: -Lesson Summary. A compact is an agreement, or contract, that people agree to. The Mayflower Compact was an agreement between 41 men aboard the Mayflower to live by a social contract.

Detailed explanation-3: -Thus, the Mayflower Compact was an agreement that bound the signers to obey the government and legal system established in Plymouth Colony. The Mayflower Compact remained in effect until Plymouth Colony became part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691.

Detailed explanation-4: -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-5: -The Mayflower Compact was drafted and signed aboard the Mayflower on November 21, 1620. The “plantation covenant” modeled after a Separatist church covenant, was a document that established a “Civil Body Politic” (a temporary government) until one could be more permanently established (ibid.).