It’s not an either or, settlers frequently did both, but the object was to ensure their towns weren’t wiped off the face of the earth. It’s wasn’t because they were concerned with real estate prices in the Berkshires.

Solution B, you start dividing up the commons, ensure there’s no generational rupture in the town, and kick the can of expansion down the road for a little bit until it becomes your son’s problem to deal with.

Solution A, you try to acquire more land from the Indigenous people who hold all the cards, would rather you not be there, and aren’t too keen on selling it to you. Worst case scenario, you don’t have a town anymore.

If you’re a New England town in the 1680s you’ve got the problem of too many sons and too few acres of cleared land to bequeath to them. If you don’t solve this problem, your township is screwed, so you’ve got two possible solutions.