Expand your knowledge base with the help of IDNLearn.com's extensive answer archive. Join our interactive Q&A community and get reliable, detailed answers from experienced professionals across a variety of topics.

Which best explains why settlers in the Northwest Territory chose to be near lakes and rivers in the late 1700s? They hoped the waterways would provide a route across the continent to the Pacific. They wanted to harness the power of the waterways to build new factories. They wanted to use the waterways to transport goods and crops to distant markets. They planned to use these waterways to help defend their properties from attack.