In this excerpt from a speech before the Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House
of Representatives in 1898, Alice Stone Blackwell advocates for women's suffrage.
1
2
from The Indifference of Women
All this merely shows that human nature is conservative, and that it is fully
as conservative in women as in men. The persons who take a strong interest in
any reform are always comparatively few, whether among men or women, and
they are habitually regarded with disfavor, even by those whom the proposed
reform is to benefit....
Many changes for the better have been made during the last half century in
the laws, written and unwritten, relating to women. Everybody approves of these
changes now, because they have become accomplished facts. But not one of
them would have been made to this day if it had been necessary to wait until the
majority of women asked for it. The change now under discussion is to be
judged on its merits. In the light of history the indifference of most women and
the opposition of a few must be taken as a matter of course. It has no more
rational significance now than it has had in regard to each previous step of
women's progress.
(from "The Indifference of Women" by Alice Stone Blackwell)
Part B
4. Sometimes it is necessary to pass good but
unpopular laws.
Which detail from the passage best supports the
correct answer from Part A?
1. "All this merely shows that human nature is
conservative, and that it is fully as
conservative in women as in men." (Paragraph
1)
O2. "Everybody approves of these changes now,
because they have become accomplished
facts." (Paragraph 2)
3. "But not one of them would have been made
to this day if it had been necessary to walt
until the majority of womensked for it."
(Paragraph 2)
4. "The change now under discussion is to be
judged on its merits." (Paragraph 2)