Tugboatspotter
Warlord
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2019
- Messages
- 278
English is not my first language so feel free to optimize/change:
The spread of most civilizations tends to follow the course of large rivers, both because they offer high nutritional yields as well as the easier movement of cargo. As in the old world many existing societies have large centres near large rivers and the new arriving settlers also see the value in settling areas with easy fresh water sources.
A large body of water however has not only advantages, in a time when bridges were mostly only build on highly frequented routes the crossing of a large river was a strenuous and dangerous undertaking. Most large rivers in the new world were crossed at natural sites at which sand banks, shallow water or islets offered assistance, at other places a ferry system was put in place to get people, cargo and livestock to the other side.
This is great.
I would change a few things though. There is a mix of US and UK English (Civilizations is US but centres is UK). I rewrote it a little bit (with US spelling), so feel free to choose which version you prefer:
The spread of civilizations tended to follow the course of large rivers due to abundant resources of food and fertile land, as well as the economic advantages provided by easier movement of cargo. In the old world many existing civilizations have centers near large rivers; and new world settlers also saw the value in settling an area with both a fresh water supply and access for larger vessels.
In an age when bridges were mostly only built on highly frequented routes, the crossing of a large river was a strenuous and dangerous undertaking; so most large rivers in the new world were crossed at natural sites where sand banks, shallow water or islets offered assistance. At other places a ferry system was put in place to get people, cargo and livestock to the other side.
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