The year 2020 marks the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Pilgrims in the New World. It’s also the quadricentennial of what came to be called the Mayflower Compact.
Aware that they had landed far north of their intended destination of Virginia and were therefore under the jurisdiction of no government, the Pilgrims feared that their new colony might disintegrate without government of some sort. Moreover, not all of those who arrived with them shared their religious beliefs, which they suspected might also lead to disharmony.
