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Show BASIS OP AMERICAN HISTORY [ 1500 geographical dispersion of certain groups. The physical features of the continent and the exigencies of the food quest are enough to account for the process. The development of agriculture doubtless tended to arrest the dispersion, since it immediately increased the number of individuals who were able to obtain subsistence from a given area; but it could never have proved more than a temporary check. 3^ he point of greatest significance in the present oispussion is the place of the tribe in the development of government; and, as was brought out in the last chapter, those tribes organized on a basis of clans are the ones in which the evolution towards confederation and centralization seem to have taken place most clearly. -^ Thile in most tribes the right of electing sachems and chiefs pertained to the clan, certain tribes- e. g., the Iroquois, demanded the privilege of ratification of such elections. This meant thp\ a rhipf-elect was not recognized officially until ceremonially invested with authority by the council of the tribe^ and tinfit~ electiohs" cbuH'Be^ and were nullified by tribal action. The right of deposition for cause, which was also held by the tribe as well as by the clan, was a further safeguard in insuring good behavior after election. Undoubtedly^ ^ he most interesting development of the tribe was the council of chiefs, which was organized on much the same plan as that of the clan. Chiefs of the clans, where such existed, were |