The primary purpose of the passage is to A. expose the misunderstanding that has characterized descriptions of the relationship between seventeenth and eighteenth-century England and certain of its American colonies B. suggest a reason for England's treatment of certain of its American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries C. settle an ongoing debate about the relationship between England and certain of its American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries D. interpret the events leading up to the independence of certain of England's American colonies in the eighteenth century E. explain an aspect of the relationship between England and certain of its American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries