American Indians and European colonization, 1491–1800

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Between 1491 and 1800, American Indian peoples met European explorers, traders, missionaries, settlers and armies, and they responded with trade, diplomacy, warfare and cultural adaptation. Evaluate the extent to which American Indians shaped the course of European colonization of North America from 1491 to 1800. Your response may focus on any American Indian people(s) and any part of this period. You are not expected to address the entire period. In your response you should do the following: • Make a historically defensible claim (thesis) that answers the prompt and sets out a line of reasoning. • Describe a broader historical context relevant to the prompt. • Support your argument with at least two pieces of specific, relevant evidence. • Use historical reasoning (comparison, causation, or continuity and change) to frame or structure your argument. • Show a complex understanding of the topic through sophisticated argument and/or effective use of evidence.

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