Question

Second, the suffrage for women already established in the United States makes women's suffrage for the nation unavoidable. When Elihu Root, as president of the American Society of International Law, at the 11th annual meeting in Washington, April 26, 1917, said, ""The world cannot be half democratic and half autocratic. It must be all democratic or all Prussian. There can be no compromise,"" he voiced a general truth. Precisely the same instinct has already taught the blindest and most hostile foe of women's suffrage that our nation cannot long continue a condition under which government in half its territory rests upon the consent of half of the people and in the other half upon the consent of all the people; a condition which grants representation to the taxed in half of its territory and denies it in the other half; a condition which permits women in some states to share in the election of the president, senators, and representatives and denies them that privilege in others. It is too obvious to require demonstration that woman suffrage, now covering half our territory, will eventually be ordained in all the nation. No one will deny it. The only question left is when and how will it be completely established. Which of the following provides the best summary of the arguments in the sixth paragraph?

A. We must follow the example of well-known leaders such as Elihu Root who have come out in support of suffrage.
B. The rest of the world has already given women the right to vote, so the States must do so as well.
C. Half of the other states already allow women to vote, creating an imperative to allow suffrage in other states.
D. Other countries allow women to vote, so a country as developed as the United States should also grant them suffrage.
E. The only alternative to democracy is autocracy, and so we must persevere in expanding the vote.

Answer 1

The most accurate summary of the paragraph is that the existence of women's suffrage in half of the states creates an imperative for its establishment in the remaining states, reflecting an unavoidable trend towards universal women's suffrage in the nation. Option C is the correct answer.

Step-by-step explanation:

The best summary of the arguments in the sixth paragraph is C. Half of the other states already allow women to vote, creating an imperative to allow suffrage in other states. This reflects the argument that the existing partial suffrage for women in the United States set a precedent that makes national women's suffrage inevitable. The sentiment expressed by Elihu Root about the incompatibility of democratic and autocratic practices in a single nation parallels the incongruity of having a nation where only some women can vote. The emphasis is on the natural progression from partial suffrage in several states to universal suffrage throughout the entire nation.

By 1919, the movement for women's suffrage had gained considerable momentum, with thirty states and territories recognizing women's right to vote in some form, and the U.S. Senate approving a women's suffrage amendment. Carrie Chapman Catt and others used the patriotic climate during the First World War to push for universal suffrage, highlighting the hypocrisy of fighting for democracy abroad while denying it at home. With established precedents and growing public support, universal women's suffrage was becoming less a question of 'if' and more a question of 'when' and 'how'.