The American colonies had strong motivation as well as communication with each other that helped them stick together through all the hardships and changes they went through in the new world. An example of the colonists sticking together was while on the Mayflower all the people aboard knew that their chances of survival depended on sticking together so, they agreed to form a democracy in which all of the men could vote to create laws for the common good of the colony. Known today as the Mayflower Compact, this agreement
acknowledged the king and God, but modeled a new concept called the consent of the governed, which means common people voluntarily agree to allow the government to have authority over them. Success didn't come easy, and nearly half the passengers and crew died of hunger, disease and exposure before the winter was out. Still, the survivors were determined to make it in the New World, and they remained in America when the ship returned to England in April. Bradford knew that the colony could only survive if they had a harvest their first year, since there would be no re-supply shipments. So, he directed that each family plant their own seeds and provide their own food. This task was aided, once again, by their Indian predecessors, who had done all of the hard work of clearing fields for planting. But still, they struggled to get their European crops to grow in New World which caused many hardships that they got through by their unity.