The Mayflower Compact

The eagerly-awaited final title in National Geographic's popular American Documents series completes the broad sweep of the collection by casting all the way back to our country's original document of record, the Mayflower Compact. The date is November 10, 1620. The Pilgrims--101 surviving passengers of the Mayflower--arrived on America's shores, far from their intended destination in the Virginia Colony. To survive in the wilderness of this strange, new land, they needed rules for governing themselves and their community. The document they wrote laid the groundwork for democracy in America. This book provides an engaging, interactive, and age-appropriate text, generously illustrated with period artwork and archival photographs. It includes biographies of key figures in the document's history, the entire text of the original document and a complete list of its signatories, and a glossary and index. Students learn about the core curriculum topics of pre-colonial and colonial American history through the prism of this cornerstone document, and are made aware of its relevance to their 21st century lives. This book is essential for any school, public, or home library.