Reading Comprehension

The fields of antebellum (pre-Civil
War) political history and women’s his-
tory use separate sources and focus
Line on separate issues. Political histori-
(5) ans, examining sources such as voting
records, newspapers, and politicians’
writings, focus on the emergence in the
1840’s of a new “American political
nation,” and since women were neither
(10) voters nor politicians, they receive little
discussion. Women’s historians, mean-
while, have shown little interest in the
subject of party politics, instead draw-
ing on personal papers, legal records
(15) such as wills, and records of female
associations to illuminate women’s
domestic lives, their moral reform
activities, and the emergence of the
woman’s rights movement.
(20) However, most historians have
underestimated the extent and signifi-
cance of women’s political allegiance
in the antebellum period. For example,
in the presidential election campaigns
(25) of the 1840’s, the Virginia Whig party
strove to win the allegiance of Virginia’s
women by inviting them to rallies and
speeches. According to Whig propa-
ganda, women who turned out at the
(30) party’s rallies gathered information
that enabled them to mold party-loyal
families, reminded men of moral values
that transcended party loyalty, and con-
ferred moral standing on the party.
(35) Virginia Democrats, in response,
began to make similar appeals to
women as well. By the mid-1850’s
the inclusion of women in the rituals of
party politics had become common-
(40) place, and the ideology that justified
such inclusion had been assimilated
by the Democrats.
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Q4:
The primary purpose of the passage as a whole is to
1. examine the tactics of antebellum political parties with regard to women
2. trace the effect of politics on the emergence of the woman’s rights movement
3. point out a deficiency in the study of a particular historical period
4. discuss the ideologies of opposing antebellum political parties
5. contrast the methodologies in two differing fields of historical inquiry

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Q5:
According to the second paragraph of the passage (lines 20-42), Whig propaganda included the assertion that
1. women should enjoy more political rights than they did
2. women were the most important influences on political attitudes within a family
3. women’s reform activities reminded men of important moral values
4. women’s demonstrations at rallies would influence men’s voting behavior
5. women’s presence at rallies would enhance the moral standing of the party

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Q6:
According to the passage, which of the following was true of Virginia Democrats in the mid-1850’s?
1. They feared that their party was losing its strong moral foundation.
2. They believed that the Whigs’ inclusion of women in party politics had led to the Whigs’ success in many elections.
3. They created an ideology that justified the inclusion of women in party politics.
4. They wanted to demonstrate that they were in support of the woman’s rights movement.
5. They imitated the Whigs’ efforts to include women in the rituals of party politics.