The stability that had marked the Iroquois Confederacy’s generally pro-British position was shattered with the overthrow Line of James II in 1688, the colonial uprisings that followed in Massachusetts, New York, and Maryland, and the commencement of King William’s War against Louis XIV of France. The increasing French threat to English hegemony in the interior of North America was signalized by French-led or French-inspired attacks on the Iroquois and on outlying colonial settlements in New York and New England. The high point of the Iroquois response was the spectacular raid of August 5, 1689, in which the Iroquois virtually wiped out the French village of Lachine, just outside Montreal. A counter-raid by the French on the English village of Schenectady in March 1690 instilled an appropriate measure of fear among the English and their Iroquois allies. The Iroquois position at the end of the war, which was formalized by treaties made during the summer of 1701 with the British and the French, and which was maintained throughout most of the eighteenth century, was one of “aggressive neutrality” between the two competing European powers. Under the new system the Iroquois initiated a peace policy toward the “far Indians,” tightened their control over the nearby tribes, and induced both English and French to support their neutrality toward the European powers by appropriate gifts and concessions.

The author’s primary purpose in this passage is to

A. denounce the imperialistic policies of the French ​
B. disprove the charges of barbarism made against the Indian nations ​
C. expose the French government’s exploitation of the Iroquois balance of power ​
D. describe and assess the effect of European military power on the policy of an Indian nation ​
E. show the inability of the Iroquois to engage in European-style diplomacy



With which of the following statements would the author be LEAST likely to agree? ​

A. The Iroquois were able to respond effectively to French acts of aggression. ​
B. James II’s removal from the throne preceded the outbreak of dissension among the colonies. ​
C. The French sought to undermine the generally positive relations between the Iroquois and the British. ​
D. Iroquois negotiations involved playing one side against the other. ​
E. The Iroquois ceased to receive trade concessions from the European powers early in the eighteenth century.