Forty-one men signed the Mayflower Compact in 1620.
The agreement was signed aboard the Mayflower after the ship anchored in Provincetown Harbor at the tip of Cape Cod. It established a framework for self-government among the settlers who would form Plymouth Colony. The Mayflower's 101 passengers included women and children, but the signers were the adult men recorded in the surviving historical accounts.
The settlers had intended to reach the Virginia Colony, but storms and navigational difficulties brought them north of their planned destination. Because they were outside the area covered by their patent, the compact helped create an agreed political structure before they settled at Plymouth.
The Mayflower Compact pledged loyalty to King James I while promising to create and obey “just and equal Laws” for the colony. It is often described as an early example of colonial self-government, although it was not a modern democratic constitution and excluded women and non-signing passengers from the agreement.