Who were the Cossacks and what role did they play in Russian expansion?

1) Summarize the material from the Module 4 lectures and PowerPoints (at least 5 complete sentences.)
2) Read Shennan- “The Conquest of Siberia”and answer the following questions:
For Shennan:
•Who were the Cossacks and what role did they play in Russian expansion?
•How did economic motives (of both the Tsar and the Stroganov family) lead to the turn toward Siberia?
•How did geography initially prevent the invasion of Siberia? How did geography eventually help speed it?
Do you have any remaining questions about the readings, or is anything still unclear to you? If so, please share them here.
3) Connect: How does the material from this week relate to something else you already know about? This can be current events, somewhere you’ve traveled, a movie you’ve seen, a book you’ve read, content from another class, etc. (at least 2 complete sentences).
Note: Your response MUST be specific and will NOT receive credit if you simply state that you have learned about this topic in previous history classes.