The authors of the various confederation plans probably could not have incorporated specific features of the Iroquois League or of other Indian polities into their plans because they did not know enough about Indian political practices to do so. The best-informed British Americans were aware of Indian polities in which a central government with limited powers was combined with substantially autonomous local governments; they termed these “confederacies” and compared them to confederacies in contemporary Europe and ancient Greece. (Their use of this term is further evidence that they were already familiar with the confederation form of government when they first encountered American Indians.) . . . .

Had British-American leaders known more about the Iroquois League, they would probably have concluded that it could not serve them as a model; there was too much dissimilarity between their own societies and the Iroquois society for that form of cultural borrowing to have been fruitful.

What reasons does the text offer to explain why confederation plans did not include elements of the Iroquois League? Check all that apply.

A. The two societies had zero contact.
B. The two societies were very different.
C. The planners knew little about the Iroquois form of government.
D. European confederations were used as the basis for their plans.
E. The Iroquois League was very secretive about their form of government.