The Mayflower Compact is a historical symbol that the narrative presents as representing the origins of American self-governance and the principle of creating a society based on laws established through mutual agreement. The document’s creation aboard the ship is a key narrative moment that resolves the conflict between the Saints and the Strangers, uniting them under a shared legal framework. This act marks the narrative’s movement from the Old World’s hierarchical power structures and toward a new form of political organization. William Bradford proposes the agreement specifically to “create just and equal laws in our new colony… by common consent where majority rules” (104). This language highlights the narrative’s emphasis on a system in which authority comes from the collective will of the people. The Compact thus symbolizes the theme of The Courage of Independent Thought, reflecting the Pilgrims’ decision to establish their own system of rule. The narrative presents it as a precursor to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, symbolizing the idea that a just government governs with the consent of the governed, which the book associates with The Roots of American Exceptionalism.