The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was drafted by the separatist pilgrims who crossed the Atlantic aboard the Mayflower. It was signed on November 11, 1620 in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod. Having settled at Plymouth (thus named by Captain John Smith earlier), the pilgrims recognized that their land was outside the chartered territory of the London Company. Thus, the Mayflower Compact was signed to establish a civil government based upon a majoritarian model and to proclaim the settlers' allegiance to the king. The compact was referred to by John Adams as the foundation of the Constitution of the United States[citation needed], but he was speaking figuratively, not literally.
