The Pilgrims established rules of self-government primarily through the Mayflower Compact in 1620, which outlined a framework for governance based on majority rule and consent of the governed. The Puritans, arriving shortly after, also created self-governing systems, notably in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but their governance was more theocratic and based on their religious beliefs. Both groups contributed to the development of self-government in colonial America, but it was the Pilgrims who are specifically credited with the early formulation of such principles.
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