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Historians have long thought that America was, from the beginning, pro
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03 Apr 2022, 02:55
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Historians have long thought that America was, from the beginning, profoundly influenced by the Lockean notion of liberty, with its strong emphasis on individual rights and self-interest. Yet in his recent book, historian J. G. A. Pocock argues that early American culture was actually rooted in the writings of Machiavelli, not Locke. The implications of this substitution are important: if Pocock’s argument is right, then Americans may not be as deeply individualistic and capitalistic as many believe. Pocock argues that out of the writings of antiquity Machiavelli created a body of political thinking called “classical republicanism.” This body of thought revived the ancient belief that a human being was by nature a citizen who achieved moral fulfillment by participating in a self-governing republic. Liberty was interpreted as a condition that is realized when people are virtuous and are willing to sacrifice their individual interests for the sake of the community. To be completely virtuous, people had to be independent and free of the petty interests of the marketplace. The greatest enemy of virtue was commerce. This classical republican tradition is said by Pocock to have shaped the ideology of America during the eighteenth century. Many events in early American history can be reinterpreted in light of Pocock’s analysis. Jefferson is no longer seen as a progressive reader of Locke leading America into its individualistic future; instead Jefferson is understood as a figure obsessed with virtue and corruption and fearful of new commercial developments. Influenced by Pocock, some historians have even argued that a communitarian and precapitalist mentality was pervasive among the eighteenth-century farmers of America.
Yet Pocock’s thesis and the reinterpretation of the history of eighteenth-century America engendered by it are of dubious validity. If Americans did believe in the ideals of classical virtue that stressed civic duty and made the whole community greater than its discrete parts, then why did the colonists lack a sense of obligation to support the greater good of the British Empire? If indeed America has not always been the society of individual rights and self-interest that it is today, how and when did it be come so? Classical republicanism is elitist, and it certainly had little to offer the important new social groups of artisans and shopkeepers that emerged in America during the eighteenth century. These middle-class radicals, for whom John Wilkes and Thomas Paine were spokesmen, had none of the independence from the market that the landed gentry had. They were less concerned with virtue and community than they were with equality and private rights. They hated political privilege and wanted freedom from an elite-dominated state. In short, the United States was created not in a mood of classical anxiety over virtue and corruption, but in a mood of liberal optimism over individual profits and prosperity.
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1. Which of the following best states the author’s main point?
(A) Classical republicanism could not have been the ideological basis of eighteenth-century America. (B) Classical republicanism is an elitist theory that was rejected by eighteenth-century artisans and shopkeepers. (C) Pocock understates the importance of the contributions Machiavelli made to the formation of early American culture. (D) Pocock fails to capture the great extent to which eighteenth-century Americans were committed to a sense of civic duty. (E) Pocock’s account of Jefferson is incompatible with Jefferson’s commitment to a Lockean notion of liberty.
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2. The conception of liberty that, according to Pocock, formed the basis of America’s eighteenth-century ideology is most clearly exhibited by which of the following individuals?
(A) The merchant who rebuilds the damaged sidewalk in front of his store in order to avoid potential lawsuits by customers who might fall there (B) The professor who allows her students to help her design the content and the format of the courses she teaches (C) The doctor who bows to government pressure and agrees to treat a small number of low-income patients at no cost (D) The lawyer who argues that a state law prohibiting smoking in public places unfairly encroaches on the rights of smokers (E) The engineer whose business suffers as a result of the personal time and energy he devotes to a program to clean up city streets
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3. According to the author, eighteenth-century American artisans and shopkeepers had little reason to
(A) support the political efforts of Thomas Jefferson (B) reject the ideals of classical virtue (C) embrace the principles of classical republicanism (D) renounce the political objectives of the British Empire (E) worry about increasing profits and maintaining general prosperity
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4. The author mentions which of the following as a fact that weakens Pocock’s argument about the ideology of eighteenth-century America?
(A) Jefferson’s obsession with virtue and corruption and his fear of commercial development (B) The precapitalist mentality that was pervasive among farmers in early America (C) The political decline of artisans and shopkeepers in eighteenth-century America (D) The colonists’ lack of commitment to support the general welfare of the British Empire (E) The existence of political privilege in early American society
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5. The passage suggests that, if classical republicanism had been the ideology of eighteenth-century America, which of the following would have resulted?
(A) People would have been motivated to open small businesses and expand commercial activity. (B) Citizens and politicians would not have been encouraged to agitate for increased individual rights. (C) People would have been convinced that by pursuing their own interests they were contributing to the good of the group. (D) The political and social privileges enjoyed by the landed gentry would have been destroyed. (E) A mood of optimism among people over individual profits and prosperity would have been created.
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6. The author implies that Pocock’s argument about the ideology of eighteenth-century America would be more plausible if the argument explained which of the following?
(A) How a society that was once committed to the ideals of classical virtue could be transformed into a society of individual rights and self-interest (B) How Thomas Jefferson could have become obsessed with individual rights and with prosperity and profits (C) Why classical republicanism had such wide appeal among those who were free from the demands of the marketplace (D) Why many colonists who embraced classical republicanism were reluctant to place their individual interests above those of Great Britain (E) Why the landed gentry in eighteenth-century America should have believed that moral fulfillment is achieved by participating in a self-governing republic
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7. According to the passage, Pocock’s theory suggests that many eighteenth-century Americans believed that increasing commercial activity would
(A) force the landed gentry to relinquish their vast holdings (B) enrich the nation and increase individual rights (C) cause some people to forfeit their liberty and virtue (D) create a mood of optimism about national prosperity (E) strengthen the political appeal of middle-class radicals
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8. The author is primarily concerned with
(A) refuting a proposed thesis about eighteenth-century America (B) analyzing a long-established interpretation of American history (C) criticizing a set of deeply held beliefs about early American ideology (D) reconciling opposing interpretations of eighteenth-century American ideology (E) defending a novel reading of the ideology of eighteenth-century America
Re: Historians have long thought that America was, from the beginning, pro
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14 Sep 2024, 09:43
Expert Reply
Passage map: p1: To state a reinterpretation of a long standing belief P2: To argue that this reinterpretation is not representative of how the US was created The author is initially quite descriptive, then questions a lot of the arguments given by the authors in question
2 incorrect, sat this untimed
I'm just writing out my analysis for the 2 questions i got wrong.
Question 1 A - I didn't select A, incorrectly I marked it as a Contender, as I didn't really understand how things tied together. But now I see that A is correct. Initially the author states that's Pocock's argument: that he believes the US was "rooted" in "classical republicanism" - M's writings. The author, in the second passage, then argues against Pocock's thesis (that US was uprooted...) stating that it is of "dubious" validity. The author then states what the US is founded upon: "optimism..." (last sentence). Thus the main idea is encapsulated in A B is incorrect because this is just not supported. The passage is based on the virtues the US was founded upon C -- i stupidly selected this as I didn't fully understand the argument. It's incorrect as the argument isn't really concerned with this, it's states pocock's belief then argues against it. D - is incorrect as this is more the author's view, not pocock's. E - No- jeferson is briefly mentioned to present how jeferson is reinterpreted in light of P's notion
Re: Historians have long thought that America was, from the beginning, pro
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14 Sep 2024, 09:44
Expert Reply
Question 2
krittapat GMATNinja egmat veritasKarishma Could you please help explain why option B in question 5 is wrong? I don't think choice C is supported by any info in the passage.
Also, Could you please help explain question 2 in details? I don't have any clue to solve this question. I wouldn't worry too much about question 5, since the OA hasn't been verified. But in case it helps, here's a breakdown of question 2. In the first paragraph, the author describes Pocock's idea of liberty with the following sentence: Liberty was interpreted as a condition that is realized when people are virtuous and are willing to sacrifice their individual interests for the sake of the community. So according to Pocock, liberty is when people are willing to sacrifice their individual interests for the "sake of the community." Let's take a look at question #2. 2. The conception of liberty that, according to Pocock, formed the basis of America’s eighteenth-century ideology is most clearly exhibited by which of the following individuals?
(A) The merchant who rebuilds the damaged sidewalk in front of his store in order to avoid potential lawsuits by customers who might fall there Although rebuilding the damaged sidewalk will benefit the community, the merchant is not doing this as a willing sacrifice of his or her "individual interests." Rather, the merchant rebuilds the damaged sidewalk to avoid a lawsuit. In other words, the merchant is motivated NOT by willingness to sacrifice, but self-interest. Eliminate (A). (B) The professor who allows her students to help her design the content and the format of the courses she teaches By allowing her students to help her design her courses, the professor is not "sacrificing" her "individual interests." If anything, getting her students to help her do her work is serving her "individual interests." Get rid of (B). (C) The doctor who bows to government pressure and agrees to treat a small number of low-income patients at no cost While treating low-income patients at no cost is a sacrifice for the "sake of the community," it's not a willing sacrifice. In fact, the doctor is only making this sacrifice because he or she was pressured by the government. Since this isn't an example of a willing sacrifice, (C) is out. (D) The lawyer who argues that a state law prohibiting smoking in public places unfairly encroaches on the rights of smokers The lawyer is not making a sacrifice, but merely arguing in favor of the rights of smokers. Also, while this action may benefit smokers, it's not being done for the "sake of the community." Eliminate (D). (E) The engineer whose business suffers as a result of the personal time and energy he devotes to a program to clean up city streets By devoting personal time and energy to cleaning city streets, the engineer is clearly acting for the "sake of the community." Because these actions are done freely (i.e. not because the government is pressuring the engineer), and because they cause the engineer's business to suffer, they are a willing sacrifice. Since this fits the definition of liberty from the passage, (E) is correct. I hope that helps!
Historians have long thought that America was, from the beginning, pro
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15 Sep 2024, 08:15
Expert Reply
To answer the question, we are looking for something that Pocock's theory suggests about 18th century Americans. Pocock believed that American society at this time was shaped by classical republicanism -- so, what would these classically republican Americans believe about increasing commercial activity? Would it:
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(A) force the landed gentry to relinquish their vast holdings
There is no support in the passage for this answer choice. "Landed gentry" are mentioned near the end of the passage, but nowhere does the author imply that classical republicans believed that increasing commercial activity would somehow force the gentry to give up their land. (A) is out.
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(B) enrich the nation and increase individual rights
Classical republicans saw commerce as "the greatest enemy of virtue." So, commerce is not seen in a positive light at all, and increasing commercial activity was not seen as a way to "enrich the nation." (B) is out.
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(C) cause some people to forfeit their liberty and virtue
Here is what the passage says about liberty, virtue, and commerce in the eyes of classical republicans:
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Liberty was interpreted as a condition that is realized when people are virtuous and are willing to sacrifice their individual interests for the sake of the community. To be completely virtuous, people had to be independent and free of the petty interests of the marketplace. The greatest enemy of virtue was commerce.
So, what would happen with increasing commercial activity?
"The greatest enemy of virtue was commerce," so increasing commercial activity would make it more difficult to be virtuous.
"Liberty... is realized when people are virtuous," so if it is more difficult to be virtuous, then it is less likely that people would have liberty.
In all, classical republicans believed that increasing commercial activity would decrease the number of people who were virtuous and therefore had liberty. Let's keep (C) for now.
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(D) create a mood of optimism about national prosperity
Nope. Classical republicans did not support increasing commercial activity, and optimism about national prosperity is mentioned in the last sentence of the passage to describe how Americans were actually not classical republicans. (D) is out.
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(E) strengthen the political appeal of middle-class radicals
The passage does not imply that classical republicans connected increasing commercial activity with a strengthened appeal of middle class radicals.
(E) is out, and (C) is our answer.
I hope that helps!
gmatclubot
Historians have long thought that America was, from the beginning, pro [#permalink]