What historic agreement is depicted on one of the five 2026 America250 quarter designs?

The Mayflower Compact is depicted on one of the five 2026 America250 quarter designs.

The Mayflower Compact was an agreement made by English colonists aboard the Mayflower in 1620 before they established Plymouth Colony. Its signers agreed to form a civil body politic and follow laws made for the general good of the settlement. The document is often remembered as an early example of self-government in colonial North America.

The 2026 semiquincentennial quarter program uses historical themes connected with the American story. The Mayflower Compact design represents an early moment in the development of organized colonial government, long before the Declaration of Independence in 1776 or the Constitution of 1787.

The compact is sometimes confused with the Declaration of Independence because both are associated with ideas of government and consent. They are separated by more than 150 years and served different purposes: the Mayflower Compact organized a settlement, while the Declaration announced the colonies’ break with Great Britain.