RC - Lone wolf Vs Hitchcock

[poonamchiK]

In its 1903 decision in the case of Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock, the United States Supreme Court rejected the efforts of three Native American tribes to prevent the opening of tribal lands to non-Indian settlement without tribal consent. In his study of the Lone Wolf case, Blue Clark properly emphasizes the Court's assertion of a virtually unlimited unilateral power of Congress (the House of Representatives and the Senate) over Native American affairs. But he fails to note the decision's more far-reaching impact: shortly after Lone Wolf, the federal government totally abandoned negotiation and execution of formal written agreements with Indian tribes as a prerequisite for the implementation of federal Indian policy. Many commentators believe that this change had already occurred in 1871 when--following a dispute between the House and the Senate over which chamber should enjoy primacy in Indian affairs--Congress abolished the making of treaties with Native American tribes. But in reality the federal government continued to negotiate formal tribal agreements past the turn of the century, treating these documents not as treaties with sovereign nations requiring ratification by the Senate but simply as legislation to be passed by both houses of Congress. The Lone Wolf decision ended this era of formal negotiation and finally did away with what had increasingly become the empty formality of obtaining tribal consent.


Q 1. According to the passage, the congressional action of 1871 had which of the following effects?

(A) Native American tribal agreements were treated as legislation that had to be passed by both houses of Congress.
(B) The number of formal agreements negotiated between the federal government and Native American tribes decreased.
(C) The procedures for congressional approval and implementation of federal Indian policy were made more precise.
(D) It became more difficult for Congress to exercise unilateral authority over Native American affairs.
(E) The role of Congress in the ratification of treaties with sovereign nations was eventually undermined.


OA : A.

For some reason i chose B because i read
"the federal government totally abandoned negotiation and execution of formal written agreements with Indian tribes as a prerequisite for the implementation of federal Indian policy" .
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Q2. According to the passage, which of the following resulted from the Lone Wolf decision?

(A) The Supreme Court took on a greater role in Native American affairs.
(B) Native American tribes lost their legal standing as sovereign nations in their dealings with the federal government, but their ownership of tribal lands was confirmed.
(C) The federal government no longer needed to conclude a formal agreement with a Native American tribe in order to carry out policy decisions that affected the tribe.
(D) The federal government began to appropriate tribal lands for distribution to non-Indian settlers.
(E) Native American tribes were no longer able to challenge congressional actions by appealing to the Supreme Court.

C .
I chose an E. I get very upset when I am unable to understand such passages and the answer choice completely goes above my top!
:-(

Seniors help will be much appreciated.

[RonPurewal]

For some reason i chose B because i read
"the federal government totally abandoned negotiation and execution of formal written agreements with Indian tribes as a prerequisite for the implementation of federal Indian policy" .

nope -- that's a result of the 1903 legislation, not a result of the 1871 legislation.
(note the location of that information in the passage -- it's located before any mention of the 1871 legislation.)

---------------------------------------------------------------
Q2. According to the passage, which of the following resulted from the Lone Wolf decision?

(A) The Supreme Court took on a greater role in Native American affairs.
(B) Native American tribes lost their legal standing as sovereign nations in their dealings with the federal government, but their ownership of tribal lands was confirmed.
(C) The federal government no longer needed to conclude a formal agreement with a Native American tribe in order to carry out policy decisions that affected the tribe.
(D) The federal government began to appropriate tribal lands for distribution to non-Indian settlers.
(E) Native American tribes were no longer able to challenge congressional actions by appealing to the Supreme Court.

C .
I chose an E. I get very upset when I am unable to understand such passages and the answer choice completely goes above my top!
:-(

Seniors help will be much appreciated.

ironically, the exact words that you singled out for question #1 are the words that prove that the answer to this question is (c).

[sissizhx]

Hello Ron,
Regarding the 2nd question, would u pls share some thoughts about what's wrong (e) -- Native American tribes were no longer able to challenge congressional actions by appealing to the Supreme Court.

it's mentioned in the passage that "Blue Clark properly emphasizes the Court’s assertion of a virtually unlimited unilateral power of Congress (the House of Representatives and the Senate) over Native American affairs. "

I thought they meant the same thing.
Thanks.

[anand.formal]

The author of the passage is primarily concerned
with
(A) identifying similarities in two different theories
(B) evaluating a work of scholarship
(C) analyzing the significance of a historical event
(D) debunking a revisionist interpretation
(E) exploring the relationship between law and social
reality

I want to know how the answer is "C" and not "B".
Yes, the author is analyzing the historical importance of an event but were it not for Blue Clark's study, the whole idea of impact of the Lone Wolf decision would not have come into the picture (the author starts off by finding inadequacies in Blue Clark's study).

In short how would I eliminate "B" if such a question pops up in the real exam ?

[singh.ashutosh]

Hi Ron,
In question no.2 isn't choice E a close call? I got stuck between C and E, chose C but wasn't sure. Could you please explain how can the choice E be eliminated?

[messi10]

Hi sissizhx, singh.ashutosh

Regarding the 2nd question, would u pls share some thoughts about what's wrong (e) -- Native American tribes were no longer able to challenge congressional actions by appealing to the Supreme Court.

it's mentioned in the passage that "Blue Clark properly emphasizes the Court’s assertion of a virtually unlimited unilateral power of Congress (the House of Representatives and the Senate) over Native American affairs. "

I thought they meant the same thing.

A court's assertion on one case does not imply anything about the appeals process. This answer is going too far.

Regards

Sunil

[messi10]

Hi anand.formal,

The author of the passage is primarily concerned
with
(A) identifying similarities in two different theories
(B) evaluating a work of scholarship
(C) analyzing the significance of a historical event
(D) debunking a revisionist interpretation
(E) exploring the relationship between law and social
reality

I want to know how the answer is "C" and not "B".
Yes, the author is analyzing the historical importance of an event but were it not for Blue Clark's study, the whole idea of impact of the Lone Wolf decision would not have come into the picture (the author starts off by finding inadequacies in Blue Clark's study).

In the passage, the author briefly mentions Blue Clark but also says this: "But he fails to note the decision's more far-reaching impact:...." Then he proceeds by explaining the the "far-reaching" impact. It could be the authors own opinion or facts that he got from somewhere else. The source is not important at this point. Whats important is that Blue Clark's work is only used as a starting point for an issue that the author is writing about.

In short how would I eliminate "B" if such a question pops up in the real exam ?

In such questions, wrong answer choices always refer to a piece of the passage but they do not convey the idea of the entire passage. You have to eliminate these answers

Regards

Sunil

[RonPurewal]

In short how would I eliminate "B" if such a question pops up in the real exam ?

on main idea questions, you shouldn't have to eliminate answers -- because you shouldn't be going through the answer choices.

ON MAIN IDEA QUESTIONS:
* COVER THE CHOICES
* PREDICT YOUR OWN ANSWER BEFORE YOU LOOK
* THEN LOOK AND CHECK

if you had done this -- i.e., predicted your own answer -- you would never have said that the study was the central focus of the passage; the study is just invoked as a piece of evidence. without the presence of answer choices, it's clear that the passage, from start to finish, has the principal purpose of analyzing the lone wolf decision.

this is the danger of answer choices on main idea questions: they can plant the wrong ideas in your head.

[750plus]

Team,

I want to understand something here.

Quoting from the passage.

Many commentators believe that this change had already occurred in 1871 when— following a dispute between the House and the Senate over which chamber should enjoy primacy in Indian affairs—Congress abolished the making of treaties with Native American tribes. But in reality the federal government continued to negotiate formal tribal agreements past the turn of the century, treating these documents not as treaties with sovereign nations requiring ratification by the Senate but simply as legislation to be passed by both houses of Congress

Can you please explain the part starting from 'But in reality......'. I think I've gap in understanding this part. Please explain.

According to the passage, which of the following was true of relations between the federal government and Native American tribes?
A. Some Native American tribes approved of the congressional action of 1871 because it simplified their dealings with the federal government.
B. Some Native American tribes were more eager to negotiate treaties with the United States after the Lone Wolf decision.
C. Prior to the Lone Wolf decision, the Supreme Court was reluctant to hear cases involving agreements negotiated between Congress and Native American tribes.
D. Prior to 1871, the federal government sometimes negotiated treaties with Native American tribes.
E. Following 1871, the House exercised more power than did the Senate in the government’s dealings with Native American tribes.

OA is D

I think I'll be able to solve the above problem once I'll understand the But (transition) part.

Thanks
Regards

[RonPurewal]

what's YOUR understanding of that part?

[RonPurewal]

^^ and don't just say "i don't understand it at all", because that would be a lie—clearly the words make some sense to you. (they are not nonsense words, nor is the sentence badly written.)

i'm tossing the question back at you not to be annoying, but, rather, because the whole point is to analyze how YOU are currently processing the sentence.
if i just say 'the point of the sentence is xxxxx' then you will not derive any value from the discussion.

[RonPurewal]

what's YOUR understanding of that part?

...so please tell us that ^^

also, you should think about the words 'but in reality...' as used in conversation.
if someone SAYS these words, then the rest of the words MUST have a certain very specific relationship—and exactly the same is true if the words are written instead.

[harika.apu]

Hello Ron ,
There is another question from same passage
As an element in the argument presented by the author of the passage, the reference to Blue Clark’s study of the Lone Wolf case serves primarily to
A. point out that this episode in Native American history has received inadequate attention from scholars
B. support the contention of the author of the passage that the Lone Wolf decision had a greater long-term impact than did the congressional action of 1871
C. challenge the validity of the Supreme Court’s decision confirming the unlimited unilateral power of Congress in Native American affairs
D. refute the argument of commentators who regard the congressional action of 1871 as the end of the era of formal negotiation between the federal government and Native American tribes
E. introduce a view about the Lone Wolf decision that the author will expand upon

OA is E.

i have a confusion between B and E
Author introduces Blue Clark's study to bring out something Blue clark failed to note : The decision had a far-reaching impact
But this introduction does not tell something that Lone Wolf decision had a greater impact than congressional action of 1871(the latter is mentioned only in the next part)
Is my reasoning for option B correct ?

[RonPurewal]

the passage says that blue clark FAILS TO NOTE the long-term impact. so, clearly, we can't cite blue clark to SUPPORT anything about that.

[750plus]

^^ and don't just say "i don't understand it at all", because that would be a lie—clearly the words make some sense to you. (they are not nonsense words, nor is the sentence badly written.)

i'm tossing the question back at you not to be annoying, but, rather, because the whole point is to analyze how YOU are currently processing the sentence.
if i just say 'the point of the sentence is xxxxx' then you will not derive any value from the discussion.

yes, yes. I see the intent there. You certainly are not annoying. This way you are making me learn better.

Many commentators believe that this change had already occurred in 1871 when— following a dispute between the House and the Senate over which chamber should enjoy primacy in Indian affairs—Congress abolished the making of treaties with Native American tribes. But in reality the federal government continued to negotiate formal tribal agreements past the turn of the century, treating these documents not as treaties with sovereign nations requiring ratification by the Senate but simply as legislation to be passed by both houses of Congress

I understand this as -
Many commentators had a belief that the change ( the federal government totally abandoned negotiation and execution of formal written agreements with Indian tribes as a prerequisite for the implementation of federal Indian policy ) had already occurred earlier. But, they were actually wrong.
In reality, the federal government continued to negotiate agreements till 1900. It was only after this case of Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock, that the formal negotiation ended.

Now, please hep me and confirm if I have understood it correctly.

Also, " treating these documents not as treaties with sovereign nations requiring ratification by the Senate but simply as legislation to be passed by both houses of Congress " - I found this part tough to understand.

Can you please explain this.

Thank You for your help.

Warm Regards
Rajat Gugnani