Q19

[thompson.simonm]

Hi all!

First post here, and would love some clarification on Q19 in the Cherokee passage. I chose (E), as I interpreted the line "As the elite initiated reforms designed to legitimize their own and the Cherokee Nation's place [...] traditional religious beliefs and practices," as parallel to (E).

I understand how (C) is correct based on lines 21-26, but isn't E also correct in that the passage of these laws were also a factor in fostering revival of traditional beliefs?

Many thanks!

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

Thanks for bringing this one to the forums! Tricky question!

I'll walk through the entire question, since we don't have an explanation up for this question already.

Lines 21-31 support the claim in answer choice (C) that a contributing factor for the revival of traditional religious beliefs among the Cherokee in the 1820s was that missionaries created conflict among the Cherokee tribes by favoring the part-Cherokee elite.

INCORRECT ANSWERS
(A) is unsupported. While this seems plausible given the context of the passage, this is not the reason given by McLoughlin for the rise of traditional religious beliefs among the Cherokee.
(B) is out of scope. The belief that reforms initiated by the part-Cherokee elite would lead to the corruption of Cherokee culture was not mentioned by McLoughlin.
(D) contradicts the passage. McLoughlin states that the reforms writ large were not considered beneficial to all Cherokee.
(E) is unsupported. While the passage does suggest that a part-Cherokee elite initiated reforms, those reforms were not designed for the part-Cherokee elite to acquire political supremacy, but rather to legitimize the elite's and the Cherokee Nation's place within the new republic. It's important to remember that the part-Cherokee elite initiating the reforms already possessed political supremacy--otherwise, how would they have initiated those reforms?

Hope that helps!

[thompson.simonm]

Thanks Matt! That's super helpful.