Final answer:
The decline in indigenous population after European contact is documented, with disease being a primary cause, not outright slaughter by Europeans. Indian alliances were important for European power in the Southeast, and the Treaty of Paris ignored the American Indians.
Step-by-step explanation:
It is false that there were 25 million Indians in 1519 and only 1 million by 1650 according to Vigil's reports. However, the general statement that there was a significant decline in the indigenous population following European contact is substantiated by historical estimates. When Columbus arrived, the Indigenous population of the entire Western Hemisphere was around seventy-five million. This number declined drastically due to various factors, with significant variances among different areas and timeframes.
The majority of the natives killed in the exploration period were not slaughtered outright by Europeans. Rather, it was contagious diseases brought by the Europeans that caused the vast majority of Native American casualties. These diseases included smallpox, influenza, and measles, which were devastating due to the Indigenous peoples' lack of immunity to such diseases. Indian alliances were, indeed, a significant means of establishing power in the southeast for European empires, which is a true statement.The Treaty of Paris largely ignored the American Indians, which is also true. It focused on ending the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain and the United States without addressing the implications for the Indigenous peoples.