SAT #9 Reading (Question 40)

Question

Which statement best expresses Henry's and Pendleton's respective views of the Confederation?

Answer 1

40.R.9 (hard)

Answer Choice A is the correct answer, because Henry believed that the Confederation “ought to have [been] amended’ only, but that he didn’t understand “what danger could have arisen under the present Confederation” to require this “proposal to change our government.” Pendleton, by contrast, calls the Confederation an “insignificant paper” and “no government at all.” This most closely matches the description that “Henry felt [the Confederation] flawed but correctable, while Pendleton felt that it had served no useful purpose.” Answer Choice B is incorrect because we don’t have enough evidence to support the strong claim that Henry viewed the Confederation as “a perfect expression of democracy,’ and, in fact, he believes that the convention “ought to have amended the old system.” We also have no evidence for the strong claim that Pendleton viewed it as fundamentally authoritarian. Answer Choice C is incorrect because Henry does seem to regard the Confederation as in need of change and not “adequate in its current form,” and more especially because there’s no evidence that Pendleton regarded it as a transitional system only. Answer Choice D is incorrect because there’s no evidence for the strong claims that “Henry considered it an unavoidable compromise during a time of crisis” in Passage 1 or that “Pendleton considered it to have harmed the nation’s future prospects.”

How to solve this? The Question asks, “Which statement best expresses Henry’s and Pendleton’s respective views of the Confederation?” To solve this, we have to know beforehand what Henry and Pendleton think about the Confederation, and we should do this in two ways. First, we should have a general grasp of their argument and overall feel about the Confederation. We should know that Henry, for instance, is sympathetic to the Confederation, doesn’t understand the need to change it, and thinks that the new proposal is a mistake. Pendleton, on the other hand, is more dismissive towards the Confederation and sympathetic to the new proposal. So, these two views of the Confederation, positive and negative, can help guide us in choosing answer choices. Second, however, we should try to identify specific lines that give us both Henry and Pendleton’s views, even if we think we have a strong grasp of their argument.

Scanning for “Confederation” in Passage 1, we find Lines 42-46 which read, “You must, therefore, forgive the solicitation of one unworthy member to know what danger could have arisen under the present Confederation, and what are the causes of this proposal to change our government.” In context, these lines essentially ask “What’s the rush?” Or, “why should we completely overhaul the system?” Reading a few lines before, we also find Lines 39-42 which read, “the Federal Convention ought to have amended the old system; for this purpose they were solely delegated,” which further tells us that Henry believes the Confederation should have been “amended” and not completely replaced. Scanning for Confederation in Passage 2, we find Lines 73-86. First, Pendleton calls the Confederation “no government at all,” and then proceeds to say that it was not the Confederation but “common danger, and the spirit of America” that brought us through the last war, and finally calls it an “insignificant paper.” So, Henry takes a positive and protective stance towards the Confederation, while Pendleton takes a negative and dismissive stance towards it.

Answer Choice A says that “Henry felt it was flawed but correctable, while Pendleton felt that it had served no useful purpose.” This answer does match our two texts and respective author views towards the Confederation, so we should keep this option. Answer Choice B says that, “Henry viewed it as a perfect expression of democracy, while Pendleton viewed it as fundamentally authoritarian.” We should recognize these two claims as “loud,” and therefore as requiring strong evidence to support them. Based on our reading of the text, we should know that the evidence just isn’t there to support these views. Moreover, we know that Henry does admit that Confederation should have been amended, so we can eliminate this option. Answer Choice C says that “Henry regarded it as adequate in its current form, while Pendleton regarded it as a transitional system only.” The first part of this answer choice, “that Henry regarded it as adequate in its current form” might seem somewhat aligned with Henry’s sympathetic stance towards the Confederation, although it pulls against his admission that it should be amended. The second part, that Pendleton regarded it as a transitional system only, requires evidence to support it, but it’s not a strong enough claim [for me to feel] comfortable eliminating it outright. So, I’d say we’re okay keeping this option. Answer Choice D says that “Henry considered it an unavoidable compromise during a time of crisis, while Pendleton considered it to have harmed the nation’s future prospects.” Like Answer Choice B, we should recognize this choice as relatively “loud” and thus carrying a large burden of proof. We can go back to the text if we need to, but should finally note that there isn’t enough evidence to support these claims, so we can eliminate this option.

Now the choice remains between Answer Choice A and Answer Choice C. To make a decision, we should try to identify a mistake in one of the answer choices and make sure that we have enough evidence to support the other. First, let’s look at Henry’s view. He either views the Confederation as “flawed but correctable’ or “adequate in its current form.” Our best evidence to resolve this is Lines 39-41 where he says, “The federal Convention ought to have amended the old system,” which should nudge us to choose “flawed but correctable” as our answer choice. Second, we can look Pendleton’s view. He either views the Confederation as having had “served no useful purpose,” or as “a transitional system only.” If we look through Passage 2, we should note no evidence that he views it as a transitional system, but we do find evidence that he thinks it “served no useful purpose,” when he calls it an “insignificant paper” in Line 82. Thus, we should Answer Choice A as our answer.