Final answer:
Puritan-Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact primarily as a reaction to religious persecution, aiming to create a community where they could practice their religion freely and establish self-governance in the New World.
Step-by-step explanation:
By promising due submission and obedience to the Mayflower Compact, the Puritan-Pilgrims were reacting primarily to religious persecution. They sought to establish a society where they could practice their Calvinist-based Protestantism without the influence of the Church of England, which they found to be inadequately reformed from Catholic practices. The Mayflower Compact was a significant document that facilitated the establishment of self-government in the New World and was instrumental in upholding social order until the Plymouth colony merged with the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1692. The Pilgrims who signed the Compact did so to create a political and social framework that reflected their values and to advance the Christian faith in accordance with their principles, notably separating from the Church of England which they perceived as corrupt.
The Puritan colonies, including both the Pilgrims of Plymouth and the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay, were driven by a desire to practice their religion freely and create communities that reflected their religious ideologies. This began with the Mayflower Compact, a critical precedent that underpinned the growth of self-governance in America, preceding even the U.S. Constitution.