“Joseph Smith… came from nowhere. Reared in a poor Yankee…
“Joseph Smith… came from nowhere. Reared in a poor Yankee farm family, he had less than two years of formal schooling and began life without social standing or institutional backing. His family rarely attended church. Yet in the fourteen years he headed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Smith created a religious culture that survived his death, flourished in the most desolate regions of the United States, and continues to grow worldwide. . . . In 1830 at the age of twenty-four, he published the Book of Mormon…. He built cities and temples and gathered thousands of followers before he was killed at age thirty-eight.”–Richard Lyman Bushman, historian, Joseph Smith Rough Stone Rolling: A Cultural Biography of Mormonism’s Founder, 2005 The developments described in the excerpt best illustrate which of the following?
Read DetailsReading for Questions 1-3 “The Americas were discovered in 1…
Reading for Questions 1-3 “The Americas were discovered in 1492, and the first Christian settlements established by the Spanish the following year…. [I]t would seem… that the Almighty selected this part of the world as home to the greater part of the human race…. [T]heir delicate constitutions make them unable to withstand hard work or suffering and render them liable to succumb to almost any illness, no matter how mild. . . . It was upon these gentle lambs… that, from the very first day they clapped eyes on them, the Spanish fell like ravening wolves upon the fold, or like tigers and savage lions who have not eaten meat for days. . . . The native population, which once numbered some five hundred thousand, was wiped out by forcible expatriation to the island of Hispaniola.” Bartoleme De Las Casas, 1552 Question: An implicatio of Las Casas’ argument is that a major cause of the decline of the native populations in the Americas after 1492 was the:
Read DetailsReading for Questions 9-11 “[George] Washington’s gratitude…
Reading for Questions 9-11 “[George] Washington’s gratitude was genuine . . . but the fact remains that the members of the association, who had embarked on a very unfeminine enterprise, were ultimately deflected into a traditional domestic role…. Ironically and symbolically, the Philadelphia women of 1780, who had tried to establish an unprecedented nationwide female organization, ended up as what one amused historian has termed ‘General Washington’s Sewing Circle.’ “Male Revolutionary leaders too regarded women’s efforts with wry condescension. . . . The women, on the other hand,… could reflect proudly that ‘whilst our friends were exposed to the hardships and dangers of the fields of war for our protection, we were exerting at home our little labours to administer to their comfort and alleviate their toil.’” Mary Beth Norton, historian, “The Philadelphia Ladies Association,” American Heritage, 1980. Question: During and immediately after the Revolutionary era, which of the following resulted most directly from the efforts of women such as those described in the excerpt?
Read DetailsReading for questions 14 – 15 “[S]ince a report had been ma…
Reading for questions 14 – 15 “[S]ince a report had been made to the king on the fertility of the soil by [Sieur de Monts] and by me on the feasibility of discovering the passage to China, . . . his Majesty directed Sieur de Monts to make a new outfit, and send men to continue what he had commenced. . . . He was also influenced by the hope of greater advantages in case of settling in the interior, where the people are civilized,… than along the sea-shore, where the [natives] generally dwell. From this course, he believed the king would derive an inestimable profit; for it is easy to suppose that Europeans will seek out this advantage rather than those of a jealous and intractable disposition to be found on the shores.” Samuel de Champlain, French explorer, 1604 Question: French exploration of North America, as reflected in the excerpt, most directly contributed to which of the following?
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