Question

questions 18 through 20 refer to the following.
\the laity church members... saw to it that the second great awakening exerted much of
its influence through purposeful voluntary associations, typically headed by boards of
directors on which laypersons appeared prominently....
contemporaries called the interlocking, interdenominational directorates of these
organizations \the evangelical united front\ or \the benevolent empire.\...
the social reforms embraced by the evangelical united front characteristically involved
creating some form of personal discipline serving a goal or redemption. prison reform
serves as an example. no longer would the prison be intended only as a place to hold
persons awaiting trial, coerce debt payment, or inflict retributive justice. reformers
reconceived the prison as corrective function, as a penitentiary or reformatory, in the
vocabulary they invented. besides prisoners, other people who did not function as free moral
agents might become objects of the reformers concern: alcoholics, children, slaves, the
insane. the goal of the reformers in each case was to substitute for external constraints the
inner discipline of morality. some historians have interpreted the religious reformers as
motivated simply by an impulse to imposesocial control, but it seems more accurate to
describe their concern as redemptive, and more specifically the creation of responsible
personal autonomy. liberation and control represented two sides of the redemptive process
as they conceived it. christians who had achieved self-liberation and self-control through
conversion not surprisingly often turned to a concern with the liberation and discipline of
others
19 mark for review
which of the following is a piece of evidence used by howe to support his claim in the third
paragraph of the excerpt about religious organizations in the early nineteenth century?
a religious voluntary associations were limited to focusing on local
efforts.
b many religious reformers also worked for large nationwide
corporations.
c the second bank of the united states was one of many national
federal organizations.
d members of the evangelical united front employed more people
than the post office did

Explanation:

The text discusses religious organizations' roles in the early nineteenth - century reform movements. Option A claims religious voluntary associations were limited to local efforts. But the text mentions "purposeful voluntary associations, typically headed by boards of directors on which laypersons appeared prominently...", which implies a more organized and possibly broader - than - local (as they had boards) structure. Option B about religious reformers working for large corporations is not mentioned. Option C about the Second Bank of the United States is a federal organization (not a religious one) and not relevant to the claim about religious organizations. Option D about the Evangelical United Front (a religious - related group) having more people than the Post Office (a non - religious entity) is also not relevant to the claim about the nature (local vs. non - local) of religious organizations.

Answer:

A. Religious voluntary associations were limited to focusing on local efforts.