Question

What idea from the Mayflower Compact influenced the Declaration of Independence?

Answer 1

Hint: The Declaration of Independence was a formal announcement that was adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting in Pennsylvania on the 4th of July 1776. It marked the collective step taken by the Thirteen American states towards forming the United States of America.

Complete answer:
The Pilgrims or Puritans, who were English Protestant Christians, came to America in order to escape from the Church of England of Roman Catholic practice. England was in control of a selected group of people who were in charge because of their wealth, lineage or hierarchy. They did not consider the common good of all the people as their priority, and even if they attempted to do so, it was solely because they sought to benefit from it.

This was the reason why the Puritans signed the Mayflower Compact before leaving the Mayflower (which was the ship in which they were transported from England to the New World. They promised that the government in America, though it was not completely independent from British rule, would work for the common good of all citizens.

The Declaration of Independence of America was influenced by this idea of the importance of the common good and thus emphasized it significantly.

The Declaration of Independence states that they hold these truths to be self-evident, i.e.
- All citizens are equal
- They are all endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights
- It is only among these that Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness exist.
- And that to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among us.

Therefore, it was the Mayflower Compact that influenced the Declaration of Independence, and secured every person’s right to have a government that is for their good and the good of every other individual in the country.

Note: The Mayflower was a British ship that was transporting groups of English families known as Pilgrims or Puritans, from Great Britain to the New World. The Mayflower Compact was an agreement written and signed by 41 male passengers (including Puritans, adventurers and tradesmen) out the 101 passengers. The Compact was originally named titled, Agreement Between the Settlers of New Plymouth.