Reading Comprehension Practice: The American Revolution

Master Exam Reading: The American Revolution

Let’s get started with your reading practice! Today’s text is about the ideals and impact of the American Revolution. Historical passages on exams often require you to understand the why behind events. As you read, focus on identifying the core ideas and arguments of the revolutionaries. What were their main complaints? What principles were they fighting for?

A great technique is to look for words that signal ideas or philosophy (e.g., “principle,” “ideology,” “rights”). Understanding the philosophical foundation of the revolution is key to answering many of the questions. Set a timer and aim to complete the passage and questions in under 20 minutes. This will build the stamina and speed you need for test day.

Reading Passage

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The American Revolution (1775-1783) was more than a mere colonial rebellion against a distant monarch; it was a seminal event in world history, predicated on a profound ideological shift that has echoed through subsequent centuries. While grievances over taxation and trade policies were the immediate catalysts, the intellectual underpinnings of the revolution were rooted in the European Enlightenment. Philosophers like John Locke had championed the concepts of natural rights and government by consent of the governed. These radical ideas crossed the Atlantic and found fertile ground in the American colonies, providing a powerful moral and philosophical justification for breaking with Great Britain.

The colonists’ central argument was elegantly captured in the slogan, “No taxation without representation.” This was not simply a complaint about the financial burden of taxes like the Stamp Act (1765) and the Townshend Acts (1767). Rather, it was a profound challenge to the legitimacy of the British Parliament’s authority over the colonies. The colonists argued that as they had no elected representatives in Parliament, that body had no right to levy internal taxes upon them. This was a claim to a fundamental right of self-governance. The British government, in contrast, adhered to the theory of “virtual representation,” which held that Members of Parliament represented the interests of the entire British Empire, not just the districts that elected them—an argument the colonists vehemently rejected.

The Declaration of Independence, drafted primarily by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, served as the revolution’s mission statement. It famously articulated the colonists’ Lockean philosophy, proclaiming that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It further asserted that governments derive their just powers from the “consent of the governed” and that when a government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it. This document transformed a tax dispute into a universal struggle for human rights, framing the American cause in transcendent, moral terms that would inspire future generations.

However, the ideals of the revolution were starkly contradicted by the persistence of slavery. The same man who wrote that all men are created equal was himself an enslaver of hundreds of people. This glaring hypocrisy has been a central paradox in American history ever since. While the revolutionary rhetoric of liberty and equality inspired many enslaved African Americans to seek their own freedom and fueled the growth of abolitionist movements in the northern states, the institution of slavery remained deeply entrenched in the southern economy. The revolution, therefore, left a fractured legacy: it established a republic founded on the radical principle of liberty while simultaneously preserving an economic and social system based on its absolute denial.

The impact of the American Revolution reverberated globally. It was the first successful anti-colonial uprising in the modern era and provided a tangible model for other nations. The French Revolution of 1789, for example, was deeply influenced by American events and ideals. Revolutionary leaders in Latin America, such as Simón Bolívar, also drew inspiration from the North American example in their own struggles for independence from Spanish rule. The American experiment in creating a large-scale constitutional republic demonstrated that it was possible to overthrow an old regime and establish a government based on popular sovereignty and the rule of law, a concept that would become a cornerstone of modern democratic movements worldwide.

Reading Quiz

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Keywords & Phrases

1. Seminal: (adjective) This describes an event, work, or idea that is highly original and influences later developments. We called the revolution a “seminal event” because it was a crucial starting point for modern democratic movements.
2. Predicated on: (phrasal verb) If an action or belief is predicated on something, it is based on that thing. We said the revolution was “predicated on a profound ideological shift,” meaning the shift in ideas was its foundation.
3. Underpinnings: (noun) This word refers to the foundation or basis of something. The “intellectual underpinnings” of the revolution were the core ideas that supported the entire cause.
4. Inalienable Rights: (phrase) These are rights that cannot be given away or taken away by a government. The Declaration of Independence famously states that “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” are inalienable rights given to all people.
5. Grievances: (noun) This is a formal word for a real or imagined wrong that causes a complaint or protest. We said the revolution was sparked by “grievances over taxation,” meaning formal complaints about the tax policies.
6. Vehemently: (adverb) To do something vehemently means to do it in a forceful, passionate, or intense manner. We said the colonists “vehemently rejected” the idea of virtual representation.
7. Transcendent: (adjective) This describes something that goes beyond the ordinary range of human experience and perception. To frame the American cause in “transcendent, moral terms” means they elevated it from a simple political dispute to a struggle for universal human principles.
8. Hypocrisy: (noun) This is the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform. The “glaring hypocrisy” was the contradiction between the ideal of liberty and the reality of slavery.
9. Reverberated: (verb) If an event reverberates, it has continuing and serious effects. We said the impact of the revolution “reverberated globally,” meaning its effects were felt far and wide for a long time.
10. Popular sovereignty: (phrase) This is the political principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. The American Revolution helped to establish this as a core concept of modern governance.