<P> On November 9 , 1620 , they sighted present - day Cape Cod . They spent several days trying to sail south to their planned destination of the Colony of Virginia , where they had obtained permission to settle from the Company of Merchant Adventurers . However , strong winter seas forced them to return to the harbor at Cape Cod hook , well north of the intended area , where they anchored on November 11 . The settlers wrote and signed the Mayflower Compact after the ship dropped anchor at Cape Cod , in what is now Provincetown Harbor , in order to establish legal order and to quell increasing strife within the ranks . </P>
<P> On November 9 , 1620 , they sighted present - day Cape Cod . They spent several days trying to sail south to their planned destination of the Colony of Virginia , where they had obtained permission to settle from the Company of Merchant Adventurers . However , strong winter seas forced them to return to the harbor at Cape Cod hook , well north of the intended area , where they anchored on November 11 . The settlers wrote and signed the Mayflower Compact after the ship dropped anchor at Cape Cod , in what is now Provincetown Harbor , in order to establish legal order and to quell increasing strife within the ranks . </P>
where did the mayflower land in the us
where did the mayflower land in the us
Cape Cod , in what is now Provincetown Harbor
Cape Cod , in what is now Provincetown Harbor