Question

Reading

Read the selection, and choose the best answer to each question.

“Join, or Die!”
1 In 1754, Benjamin Franklin printed this cartoon in his newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette. Each labeled segment of the serpent represents an American colony, highlighting the importance of unity.

The cartoon shows a snake broken up into eight pieces. Each piece of the snake represents a colony. The colonies, from tail to head, are labeled as follows: S C, for South Carolina, N C, for North Carolina, V, for Virginia, M, for Maryland, P, for Pennsylvania, N J, for New Jersey, N Y, for New York, and N E, for New England. At the bottom of the cartoon are the words, Join, or Die, in capital letters.

Credit: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA [LC-USZC4-5315].
2 Franklin published the cartoon at the beginning of the French and Indian War. France competed with Britain over North American land. Hostilities had broken out between the countries. Some colonists opposed war with the French, but Franklin thought they needed to unite. In the editorial that accompanied the cartoon, Franklin warned that the “disunited state” of the colonies would allow the French and their Native American allies to take the colonists’ territory and ruin their trade.
3 The image can be viewed as a kind of map. The colonies are listed in geographical order from north to south, although Georgia and Delaware do not appear, and all of the New England colonies are combined.
4 The image of the disjointed snake became popular again during the protests over the Stamp Act of 1765. Britain"s Parliament passed the act to impose a tax on the American colonists. However, colonists had no elected representatives in Britain"s Parliament. The idea of taxation without representation seemed an affront to their liberty. It was a matter of basic respect for people’s rights to allow them a say in the government that taxed them. Some newspapers added the cartoon to their masthead in 1774, before the Revolution.

What is the author’s purpose for writing the selection?
A. to inform readers about the history of the “Join, or Die” cartoon
B. to persuade readers to learn more about Benjamin Franklin
C. to describe the American colonies during the 1700s
D. to explain the significance of the French and Indian War

Answer 1

A. to inform readers about the history of the “Join, or Die” cartoon

The passage gives factual information about the cartoon’s creation, context, meaning, and later use—so its main purpose is to inform.