Except fire, coal and indulgences
Thomas Paine's book, Common Sense, supported independence of the North American colonies.
He said that it was common sense that the colonists should be free of their former masters because now they were a new country/continent and had to take care of themselves. The other options have nothing to do with this pamphlet.
Cyrus McCormick built the mechanical reaper
The U.S. and Florida constitutions both provide for checks and balances (see Benchmark 1.7). it is from the people that government secures its power. ... The U.S. Constitution is amended by elected federal and state legislators while the Florida Constitution is amended by voters.
The answer is of course B - water.
Japan is consisted out of four big islands (Honshu, Hokkaido, Shikoku, and Kyushu). While each of them also has their own small characteristics, separate from each other, Japan has in general been isolated due to its specific geographical environment. Not being connected to any landmass such as neighbouring China, the only contact they could have had was by boat. And travelling by boat has always been more difficult compared to packing your stuff and going somewhere.