Yes, Western European societies did horribly displace the native American societies that had existed.
But “The Other 98%” distorted Zinnist view completely misses two key points.
The native American societies were technologically undeveloped with little science and no documented history to speak of. Their “nations” were nomadic or semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers with limited urban complexes, agriculture and trade and were often at war or conflict with each other. In the history of the world, when these types of societies encounter much more highly developed societies, they have always been displaced.
Second, and important, at least to me, is that the Western European invasion and development of North America led to the development of the United States, the greatest and 3rd most populous county in the world with its unique American Exceptionalism with individual freedom and equal opportunity for all which has been a beacon and protector of freedom for the world.
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