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11 Jul 2025, 08:00
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Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
95%
(hard)
Question Stats:
36% (02:05) correct
64%
(02:02)
wrong
based on 379
sessions
History
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Greene: The early women’s suffrage movement in the northeastern United States gained traction in large part because reform-minded churches provided one of the few socially acceptable spaces where women could speak publicly and organize collective action.
Lin: That overstates the role of churches. While some early suffrage events occurred in church buildings, the real acceleration of the movement came later, when women began organizing through secular political associations and advocacy clubs that operated independently of religious institutions.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen Historian Greene’s argument?
A. In several southern states, where church involvement in suffrage activities was minimal, the women's suffrage movement developed more slowly.
B. Although some early suffrage activists had backgrounds in religious reform, they deliberately established secular organizations to avoid relying on church-based institutions.
C. Many early suffrage organizers in the Northeast were already active in church-run religious reform networks prior to their involvement in political advocacy.
D. Newspaper coverage of women’s suffrage was more frequent in northeastern states than in other areas of the United States, regardless of the presence of churches.
E. Public petitions supporting women’s voting rights in the early 1800s often used religious language, even when submitted by secular groups.
Lin: That overstates the role of churches. While some early suffrage events occurred in church buildings, the real acceleration of the movement came later, when women began organizing through secular political associations and advocacy clubs that operated independently of religious institutions.
Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen Historian Greene’s argument?
A. In several southern states, where church involvement in suffrage activities was minimal, the women's suffrage movement developed more slowly.
B. Although some early suffrage activists had backgrounds in religious reform, they deliberately established secular organizations to avoid relying on church-based institutions.
C. Many early suffrage organizers in the Northeast were already active in church-run religious reform networks prior to their involvement in political advocacy.
D. Newspaper coverage of women’s suffrage was more frequent in northeastern states than in other areas of the United States, regardless of the presence of churches.
E. Public petitions supporting women’s voting rights in the early 1800s often used religious language, even when submitted by secular groups.
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11 Jul 2025, 08:30
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GMAT Club Official Explanation:
This is the strengthen question type, which means we need to find the answer choice that strengthens MOST. Finding an answer that simply strengthens is not enough as you may have multiple strengthen options.
Greene's argument -> Churches played critical role in providing spaces for early women's suffrage movement in northeastern states
Lin's argument -> Churches might have some role to play, but secular organizations were the real deal which accelerate the moment
Strengthen Greene's argument?
Any choice which proves that churches were essential in success of suffrage movement in northeastern states will help us strengthen Greene's side.
A. In several southern states, where church involvement in suffrage activities was minimal, the women's suffrage movement developed more slowly.
Hmm, can we safely draw conclusions about the northeastern states based on what happened in the southern states? That’s a big if and a classic trap. Also there could be many other additional factors that caused the delay in the South, such as the economy, politics, education levels, or broader cultural resistance.
We cannot confidently conclude that the lack of church involvement was the primary reason for the slower progress. Nor can we assume that greater church involvement would have guaranteed faster success even in southern states to indirectly support Greene's argument. The connection here is correlational at best, not causal. It also shifts the context entirely, focusing on what happened in the southern states, while the argument we are trying to strengthen is based on events in the Northeast.
So yes, this might sound like a strengthener, but it’s a weak one that gives us a sample of 1 observation. It leaves gaps and requires several assumptions to work and likely will not be the correct answer if there’s a stronger, more direct option since instead of strengthening our argument about the Northeastern states, it talks about Southern states.
B. Although some early suffrage activists had backgrounds in religious reform, they deliberately established secular organizations to avoid relying on church-based institutions.
This choice supports Lin's argument that secular organizations were critical for the suffrage activists, thus weakening Greene's argument about churches playing an essential role in the outcome.
C. Many early suffrage organizers in the Northeast were already active in church-run religious reform networks prior to their involvement in political advocacy.
This looks promising. C) draws a connection between churches and early suffrage organizing and also focuses on the Northeast, which is exactly the region Greene is referring to. The mention of "many early suffrage organizers" suggests this was not just an isolated case and the fact that they were active in "church-run reform networks" shows that churches played an important role in shaping their public engagement even before the formal suffrage movement began.
This supports Greene’s claim that churches were one of the few spaces where women could publicly speak and organize and it directly challenges Lin’s view that their role was overstated in the early stages. Unlike the other options, this one provides clear evidence that the support from churches was integral in shaping the individuals who later led the movement. Hence, this is relatively a better way to strengthen Greene’s argument and also avoids the added assumptions that come with regional comparisons like Option A.
D. Newspaper coverage of women’s suffrage was more frequent in northeastern states than in other areas of the United States, regardless of the presence of churches.
This choice gives an alternate explanation for why the suffrage movement was more successful in northeastern states i.e., the newspaper coverage helped spread awareness, which led to earlier success. But we are trying to support Greene's argument, where churches played a crucial role. So this is at best a weakener, going against Greene’s view.
E. Public petitions supporting women’s voting rights in the early 1800s often used religious language, even when submitted by secular groups.
Trap. Don’t get carried away by the wording. Does religious language mean church involvement? Maybe, maybe not. What we can infer for sure is that public petitions might have leveraged religious language for broader appeal, but may have operated independently without any church involvement. So unless there’s any proof of direct involvement by churches, this doesn’t strengthen Greene’s point.
Answer: C
General Discussion
11 Jul 2025, 08:22
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Greene argues that reform-minded churches provided key early spaces for women’s suffrage organizing in the Northeast, while Lin contends that secular groups were more important later on. To strengthen Greene’s claim, evidence showing churches’ crucial early role or the movement’s slower growth without church involvement would help. Option A supports this by noting that in southern states, where churches were less involved, the suffrage movement developed more slowly, implying churches mattered. Option B weakens Greene by showing activists deliberately moved away from churches. Option C strongly supports Greene by revealing many early organizers were involved in church-based reform networks before political activism, highlighting churches’ foundational role. Option D is irrelevant because newspaper coverage isn’t tied to church involvement. Option E offers some cultural influence of religion but doesn’t directly show churches facilitated organizing. Thus, options A and C support Greene, but C provides the clearest evidence that churches nurtured early activists, making it the best answer.
