Examining the Mayflower Compact

Read the Mayflower Compact and work together to answer the questions below. Research any words and phrases you do not understand.

1. In what two "presences" is this document being signed?

2. The signers promise to "covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic." What does it mean to "covenant and combine"?

3. What do the signers mean by a "civil body politic"?

4. What will the civil body politic do "from time to time"?

5. Why do the signers say they need to do this?

6. What do the signers promise?