1. What claim is the author making? 2. Identify and explain the relationship between

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Explanation:

The French, who had a strong presence in the Great Lakes region early on, built a fort at Green Bay in 1717 to tighten their hold on the western Great Lakes. They became embroiled in a series of wars with the Meskwaki (Fox) Nation. The conflicts disrupted fur-trade routes along the critical Fox-Wisconsin waterway to the Mississippi. The French also developed a new route along the Maumee, Wabash, and Ohio rivers to bypass the western lakes. This new trade route brought the French into sharper conflict with the British, whose colonists were seeking to claim the same areas. The British and French vied for control by courting local Native nations, but neither side was able to secure the region. The establishment of a series of French forts in the area prompted the colonists to take action. In 1754 Colonel George Washington led a Virginia militia force to demand removal of the forts, but had to retreat after a brief skirmish, the first in a series of encounters that led to war (the French and Indian War) the following year.