The Mayflower Compact is honored on one of the five quarter designs in America250’s 2026 coin program.
The Mayflower Compact was signed in November 1620 by English colonists aboard the Mayflower before they established Plymouth Colony. It set out an agreement for self-government and mutual political cooperation among the settlers. Although it was not a constitution in the modern sense, it became an important early example of written colonial self-government.
Its inclusion connects the 2026 coin program to the longer history of political institutions in North America. The other quarter themes move through later milestones, including the Revolutionary War, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Gettysburg Address.
The Mayflower Compact is sometimes confused with the Declaration of Independence because both are associated with American political development. They served different purposes and were written 156 years apart. The compact organized a colonial settlement in 1620, while the Declaration announced independence from Great Britain in 1776.