The New England colonies had a lot of rocky soil, mostly hills which made farming challenging for the new colonists and short growing season. The Appalachians stopped further expansion West.
The purpose of the spoils system is to give your supporters political positions in various federal offices. To the victor go the spoils means that if you win, you can put all your friends or family members or party members at high positions because you control those positions. It's not a system based on merit which was introduced later, after Jackson's policies.
