From the 1700s to the early 1800s, American colonists fostered a government wtih democratic values. This allowed the people to speak their desires, creating an environment of new political ideas which led to the development of a distinct, American identity. Up to the Revolutionary War, the colonists’ identity, through radical political institutions, Christian-foundation based legislatures, and challenging plans to unity or to stay loyal to the crown. Signed in 1620, The Mayflower Compact was an agreement that set a self-governed body not completely separate from the King, which is continued by gradual yet radical political institutions. The Pilgrims had just been exiled from England due to religious tensions and arrived at Plymouth Rock for
