The Beginning of What was to Become the United States was Characterised by Inconsistencies in the Values and Behaviour of its Population

Reading Passage Question

The beginning of what was to become the United States was characterised by inconsistencies in the values and behavior of its population. These inconsistencies were reflected by its spokesmen who took conflicting stances in many areas; but on the subject of race, the conflicts were particularly vivid. The idea that the Caucasian race and the European civilisation were superior was well ingrained in the culture of the colonists at the very time that the “egalitarian” republic was founded. Voluminous historical evidence suggests that the average colonist thought the African as a heathen, he was black, and he was different in crucial philosophical ways. As time progressed, he was also increasingly taken captive, adding to the conception of deviance. The African, therefore, could be justifiably, even philanthropically treated as property according to the reasoning of slave traders and slaveholders.

Although slaves were treated as objects, abundant evidence suggests that they themselves didn’t subscribe to this view. There are many published autobiographies of slaves; African- American scholars are beginning to know enough about West African culture, to appreciate the existential climate in which the early captives were raised and which thus could not be totally destroyed by the enslavement experience. The climate was one that defined the individual in collective terms. Individuals were members of a tribe, within which they had predetermined roles to play depending on the history of their family within the tribe. Individuals were intrinsically a part of the natural elements on which they depended, and they were actively related to those tribal members who once lived and to those not yet born.

The colonial plantation system that was established and forced upon the Africans virtually eliminated tribal affiliations. Individuals were separated from kin; interrelationships among kin kept together were often transient because of sales. A new identification with the slaves working and living together in a given place would satisfy what was undoubtedly a natural tendency to be a member of a group. New family units became the most important attachments of individual slaves. Thus, as the system of slavery was gradually institutionalized, West African affiliation tendencies adapted to it.

This highly complex dual influence is still reflected in black community life, and the double consciousness of black Americans is the major characteristic of African-American mentality. Dubois articulated this divided consciousness as follows: The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife – this yearning to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double-self into a better and truer self. In this amalgamation, he wishes neither of the older selves to be the best.

Several black political movements have looked upon this duality as destructively conflicted and have vigorously urged its reconciliation. Thus, the integrationists and the black nationalists, to be crudely general, have both been concerned with the resolution of this conflict, though in opposite directions.

“The beginning of what was to become the United States was characterised by inconsistencies in the values and behaviour of its population”- is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 3 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

Question1
Which of the following would be the most appropriate title for the passage?

1. Slavery: A Democratic Anomaly
2. The History of Black People in the United States
3. The Origin of Modern African-American Consciousness
4. The Legacy of Slavery: A Modern Nation Divided
5. The rise of the Africans

Question 2
The tone of the passage could be best described as:

1. caustic and humorous
2. critical and argumentative
3. analytical and neutral
4. impassioned and angry
5. cynical and didactic

Question 3
The author puts the word egalitarian (Highlighted) in quotation marks to:

1. emphasize his admiration for the early Americans.
2. ridicule the idea of democracy.
3. remind the reader of the principles of the new nation.
4. underscore the fact that equality did not extend to everyone.
5. prove that equality was the need of the hour

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