Samuel burst through the lobby doors, out of breath but still clutching the letter tightly. "I must see Colonel Bates," he panted. The desk clerk
eyed him suspiciously. "Please, Samuel pleaded, "I've just come from
the Richmond camp with news about the revolutionaries. Lieutenant
Hamlin's horse came up lame, and he was unable to deliver it himself."
Which statement describes the most likely historical and cultural context of
the passage?
A. An Irish immigrant living in New York City in the 1800s
B. A poor boy living in the American South in the 1900s
C. An American boy living during the Revolutionary War
D. A Pilgrim boy living in a rural American colony