Since the North American continent is very diverse when it comes to physical geography, one of the main factors would be river flows and mountain chains affecting transportation routes within the continent, and oceans and mountain chains affecting rainfall that is vital for the crops.
Well basically the leaders oppose because they didn't want their followers to question their teachings. Also, they didn't want to lose any members or lose control of the people. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH was superior in that time of history. So, they wanted to keep Galileo quiet about his discoveries, etc.
I hoped i help for the most part
"journalist"
Stephen Crane (Newark (New Jersey), November 1, 1871 - Badenweiler (Germany), June 5, 1900) was an American writer and journalist, influential in twentieth-century literature. Crane was the fourteenth and last child of a married couple belonging to the Methodist Church. In 1890 he moved to New York to work on his own as a reporter in the slums, work that together with his poverty would provide material for his first novel.