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705-805 Level|   Strengthen|      
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assaad
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Historian: The vast majority of scholars studying the American Civil 13 Sep 2018, 09:29
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in my attempt i chose option E ,
however i realized later that the inherent key of this argument is the 2 "periods of time":
at the start of the civil war and by the end of the civil war
both choices C and E strengthen the argument in a way
however choice C provides an advantage factor that counters the superiority of the confederate at the start of the war
that's the subtle difference between the 2 choices
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Historian: The vast majority of scholars studying the American Civil 13 Sep 2018, 20:37
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C. The Union had four times the total population of the Confederacy and most of the industrial manufacturing in North America.

more fire power and fire power
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Historian: The vast majority of scholars studying the American Civil 08 Dec 2018, 21:07
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I know nothing about the American Civil War, but here's my logic:

Conclusion (Contention): It was already true that the Confederacy could not prevail without intervention of a major foreign power even when the war began and irrespective of the Conferate General's superiority to their Union counterpart.

Okay, so why? There's gotta be an alternate explanation that would allow the contention to be valid.

(A) Both the Confederate and Union troops started the war using similar single-shot muzzle-loading guns to which bayonets could be attached.
Neither Weakens/Strengthens - Suggests that both had equal odds. In fact, if Confederate Generals were better than their counterparts then you'd expect this to mean the Confederates should have won.

(B) The Confederacy had a greater proportion of officers who had attended the United States Military Academy at West Point and had served with distinction in the Mexican War.
180 - opposite. Doesn't explain anything. Similar to (A), this AC suggests the Confederates had the upperhand.

(C) The Union had four times the total population of the Confederacy and most of the industrial manufacturing in North America.
Bingo - all things being equal, the Confederate Generals were better than their Union Counterparts, so why did they need help? Well they were outnumbered.

[b](D) The Confederacy won several important victories early in the war and earned the respect of foreign leaders.
[/b]Irrelevant.

(E) By the end of the war in 1865, many Union soldiers were armed with the new Spencer repeating rifles that fired seven shots before reloading; the Confederate army continued to rely on slower, single-shot weapons for its soldiers.
Don't get suckered into this. Take note of "By the end of the war..". The argument clearly states that the confederates were at a disadvantage from the start of the war.
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Historian: The vast majority of scholars studying the American Civil 26 Jun 2020, 00:31
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Bunuel
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Historian: The vast majority of scholars studying the American Civil War regard Confederate generals as superior to their Union counterparts. They also acknowledge that the Confederate soldier was, on average, more committed to the cause and, therefore, willing to fight harder than the Union soldier. However, most of these same scholars agree with my contention that when the Civil War began in 1861, it was already true that the Confederacy could not prevail without the intervention of a major foreign power such as Great Britain or France.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the historian's contention?


A. Both the Confederate and Union troops started the war using similar single-shot muzzle-loading guns to which bayonets could be attached.

B. The Confederacy had a greater proportion of officers who had attended the United States Military Academy at West Point and had served with distinction in the Mexican War.

C. The Union had four times the total population of the Confederacy and most of the industrial manufacturing in North America.

D. The Confederacy won several important victories early in the war and earned the respect of foreign leaders.

E. By the end of the war in 1865, many Union soldiers were armed with the new Spencer repeating rifles that fired seven shots before reloading; the Confederate army continued to rely on slower, single-shot weapons for its soldiers.


VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:



(Don't get caught up in the terminology you do not need to know what the union and confederacy are...)

Explanation: This question asks for the answer choice that strengthens the contention that it was true at the start of the Civil War in 1861 - that the Confederacy could not have won without foreign intervention. This is despite the fact that the Confederacy had advantages in troops being more committed and in having better generals. What is needed is a very strong advantage for the union that will counter this and in fact help explain the union victory.

The correct answer is Choice C, because it provides two overwhelming Union advantages to counter the superior generals and more committed soldiers on the Confederate side. It is also a factor that was in place at the beginning of the war. This answer is saying that the Union had four times as many people and nearly all of the manufacturing.

Choice E also provides a significant advantage to the Union, but this advantage was not in place at the beginning of the war as required by the historian’s contention.

Choice A provides a factor that provides a similarity between the Confederate and Union forces and so could not explain why the Confederates would need help in order to win.

Choice B gives a factor that might be considered another advantage for the Confederacy.

Choice D is irrelevant because it is not an advantage for either side but just a report of the results earlier in the war.
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the question stems seems confusing to me, or maybe its just me, anyways, let me put my fwd my contention
It never mentions in the stem that union and confederate fought each other, it simply says confederate prevailed, they could be fighting alongside with another group
Though it doesn't change the reasoning to strengthen Union's position pre war, it does confuse the reader, I was trying to strengthen the argument by psearching for an option which might put more weight confederate's involvement with foreign power, thus on selected B
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Historian: The vast majority of scholars studying the American Civil 21 Sep 2020, 06:37
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Nityanshu1990
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Historian: The vast majority of scholars studying the American Civil War regard Confederate generals as superior to their Union counterparts. They also acknowledge that the Confederate soldier was, on average, more committed to the cause and, therefore, willing to fight harder than the Union soldier. However, most of these same scholars agree with my contention that when the Civil War began in 1861, it was already true that the Confederacy could not prevail without the intervention of a major foreign power such as Great Britain or France.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the historian's contention?


A. Both the Confederate and Union troops started the war using similar single-shot muzzle-loading guns to which bayonets could be attached.

B. The Confederacy had a greater proportion of officers who had attended the United States Military Academy at West Point and had served with distinction in the Mexican War.

C. The Union had four times the total population of the Confederacy and most of the industrial manufacturing in North America.

D. The Confederacy won several important victories early in the war and earned the respect of foreign leaders.

E. By the end of the war in 1865, many Union soldiers were armed with the new Spencer repeating rifles that fired seven shots before reloading; the Confederate army continued to rely on slower, single-shot weapons for its soldiers.

the question stems seems confusing to me, or maybe its just me, anyways, let me put my fwd my contention
It never mentions in the stem that union and confederate fought each other, it simply says confederate prevailed, they could be fighting alongside with another group
Though it doesn't change the reasoning to strengthen Union's position pre war, it does confuse the reader, I was trying to strengthen the argument by psearching for an option which might put more weight confederate's involvement with foreign power, thus on selected B
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Nityanshu1990
In the thick of the moment i did chose B like you did. But on reassessing i found that I made a silly error. So this is how i see it.
Historian says scholars believe in two things about C's - they were superior than U's and they were more committed. Do take a note of comparatives 'superior' and 'more' and finally 'fighting harder'. This suggests C's to have an advantage over U's. Thereafter, the argument takes a turn(note the word 'however') and historian says that most of the scholars also believed to that historian him/herself believed - that at the beginning of the war in 1861, it was known that C's would not be able to prevail the war without the help of foreign powers.

So, we need to find something which supports this convention(conclusion of the argument in this passage) - something that suggests C's were at disadvantage or U's were at advantage.
By that logic, A and D were somewhat opposite to what we are looking for. B is opposite. E is the most confusing because goes in the similar direction but if you pay a little more attention it talks of a time in 1865 which is different than 1861. Thus, it can't be the right answer.
Now, C gives a straight forward reason to chose it since it give advantages U's had although one has to make a minor assumption that larger population and more industrial manufacturing meant advantage for U's. However, if you know about American Civil War, you can easily pick C(I read about it and knowing that does not guarantee prize as in my case).

Answer is C.
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Historian: The vast majority of scholars studying the American Civil 16 Dec 2020, 22:57
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IMO for this question you still need to know that U and C fought AGAINST each other, which is not mentioned in the passage -

Historian: The vast majority of scholars studying the American Civil War regard Confederate generals as superior to their Union counterparts. They also acknowledge that the Confederate soldier was, on average, more committed to the cause and, therefore, willing to fight harder than the Union soldier. However, most of these same scholars agree with my contention that when the Civil War began in 1861, it was already true that the Confederacy could not prevail without the intervention of a major foreign power such as Great Britain or France.

The passage only mentions - Confederate generals as superior to their Union counterparts

if we assume, they were fighting on the same side, against let us say Canada (however, improbable it may sound), then the answer choices does not make sense. Lets take C for example -

(C) The Union had four times the total population of the Confederacy and most of the industrial manufacturing in North America.

Contention of the author is - Confederacy could not prevail.

But they are on the same side, and if Unionist did the heavy lifting - so be it.
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Historian: The vast majority of scholars studying the American Civil 19 Dec 2020, 21:12
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i actually found this one pretty easy. it's very easy to knock off everything but C and E.

E is OOS because it refers to the end of the civil war and refers to the rifles, not the troops.

Thus C is the correct answer
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Historian: The vast majority of scholars studying the American Civil 06 Jan 2025, 05:01
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