ShmoopTube

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[ musical flourish ]

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And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by New England,

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old England with all the bugs worked out.

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All right, which of the following characterizes the path of

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British colonial expansion

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in New England?

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And here are your potential answers.

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[ mumbles ]

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[ mumbling continues ]

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Okay.

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What exactly was the path of

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British colonial expansion in New England?

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Hmm.

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Remember, these settlers were coming across the ocean

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to start a new life.

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It took a little while for them to be self-sufficient.

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Sort of like how you might still need a little help from your parents

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when you strike out into the world on your own.

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So let's keep that in mind as we look at the answers. Yeah.

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All right. Well did British colonial expansion A -

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avoid existing Native American settlements?

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Well, not really. Few settlers paid any

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attention to where the Native Americans lived,

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preferring to acquire whatever territory they wanted.

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Even if other people already lived there.

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So much for the Good Neighbor policy, right?

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Was the path of expansion B - designed to allow

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for large-scale plantations?

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Well, sure, but that was

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in the Southern colonies.

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This question is asking about New England,

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where farmers didn't rely as much on large-scale plantations

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for their agricultural needs. So it ain't B.

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Were the British focused on C -

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pushing as far into the country's

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interior as possible?

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Well, think about the map of New England.

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All those teeny-tiny states crammed together

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like someone shoved them into a locker for looking at them funny.

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So strike C off the list, too.

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That must mean the British D -

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developed along the areas most suitable

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for trade and agriculture.

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Remember what we said about these colonies

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not being self-sufficient at first?

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Well that means they needed to import goods

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from the West Indies and Great Britain.

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And the surest way to get those goods was

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to settle along the shore.

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So the correct answer is D.

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With all that beachfront property, it's no wonder

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the colonists were able to coast to success.

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Ba da bum.

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