 On September 6, 1620, 102 passengers left Plymouth, England for a voyage on the Mayflower. Provisions were low, conditions were cramped, and the waves kept crashing on the deck. After two miserable months at sea, land was finally spotted. Before they docked, they created a new form of government for the unexplored land, the Mayflower Compact. But why would people risk life and limb at great personal cost?