The Mayflower Compact was written when in 1620 the settlers aboard the
Mayflower landed north of their original destination in Virginia. The
Mayflower Compact was designed to provide a framework of government for
Plymouth in the absence Virginian authority. It was significant because
it is established the principle of government by the consent of the
governed in the new world.
The Fundamental Orders Of
Connecticut, adopted in 1639, was also an early document of
self-governance in the New World. The Fundamental Orders were
substantially more complex than the Mayflower Compact, however, and
detailed an actual system system of government, complete with a general
assembly that was to meet at regular intervals and a process for
election of officials.
