Name: ___________________________________________
Period: ________
Date: _________
Unit
Revolutions in Spanish America
6
Filtering and Editing
Note: the following information corresponds to Chapter 28 in your textbook.
It is important to be able to extract main ideas from a reading, filter out the less important data, and condense the
reading into an edited and more focused version. In a paragraph, the main idea is the equivalent of a topic sentence. In
a more extended section, the main idea is the equivalent of a thesis statement. Most social science textbooks are
basically written as a series of essays. With this in mind, it is important to realize that good essay writing techniques
are frequently modeled for you.
Generating Main Ideas from a Reading (or Filtering and Editing):
Generating a main idea through filtering and editing requires active reading because you must create a
sentence, rather than underline or copy an existing one. To clarify, filtering is what you do when you are
actively reading and taking the information in. You focus more on the big picture – the main idea of the
paragraph you are reading – and less on the details. Editing is when you analyze the reading and express
the main idea in a more condensed written (or spoken) form.
How to Generate Main Ideas from a Reading:
The reading comprehension exercise below requires you to generate a main idea, not a summary, for each
paragraph in a series of topic sentences and a thesis statement for the entire selection. Read the following
paragraphs, and for each one:
 Write one clear and complete sentence that expresses the main idea of each paragraph.
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Look for a cause and effect relationship, a comparison or contrast, a connection, or a generalization addressed
within the paragraph.
Avoid simply summarizing the paragraph or listing facts.
Write one clear and complete thesis statement that expresses the main idea of all paragraphs.
Guided Practice:
A) Despite ethnic tensions and regional strife, in the nineteenth
century the United States and Canada both secured national unity,
territorial expansion, and economic growth. In the rest of the
Americas, however, people were less fortunate. They revolted
against Portugal and Spain, gained independence, and created a
number of new states that shared a Latin national and cultural
heritage. But many of these nations were ruled by caudillos, strong
and often unscrupulous personalities, and they failed to achieve
either enduring institutional stability or sustained economic growth.
Stronger: In the nineteenth century, Latin American
states, often headed by military dictators called
caudillos, fared far worse than North America in
terms of establishing political and economic stability.
Weaker: In the nineteenth century, the United States
and Canada were strong and secure. In Latin
America, people revolted against Spain and Portugal.
Unfortunately, many of these nations were ruled by
caudillos, and failed to achieve stability or growth.
(Reducing unnecessary words and establishing more
precise categories would strengthen this sentence)
B) The rebellions that erupted in Spanish America early in the
nineteenth century were grounded in animosity between two kinds
of Spaniards. Creoles, Spaniards born in America, were distrusted by
the Spanish kings, who never met them and could not directly control
them through their families and property. Peninsulares, Spaniards
born in the Iberian peninsula, thus monopolized the highest offices in
the Americas. Of the 170 viceroys in Spanish America, only four had
been born there – all to high-ranking Spanish officials living
temporarily in America. Creoles, excluded from these posts, as well
as those in the Church and the military, resented the arrogance of the
peninsulares. Similar prejudices irritated those born in Portuguese
Brazil.
Stronger: In nineteenth century Spanish America,
animosity grew into rebellion between the powerful
Spanish-born peninsulares, and the less powerful
creoles, born in the colonies.
Weaker: Rebellions broke out between the
peninsulares, who were born in Spain, and the
creoles, who were born in Spanish America. Only
four of the viceroys were born in the colonies.
Peninsulares were given better positions and more
power.
(Emphasizing a cause/effect relationship and connecting
the key concepts in the paragraph would strengthen this
sentence)
Name: ___________________________________________
Practicing the Skill:
1. Many Latin Americans considered their exclusion from high
position not only unfair, but irrational. Such ideas undermined the
traditional acceptance of Iberian rule. Carlos III, who ruled Spain
from 1759 until 1788, was inspired by the Enlightenment. He
succeeded in improving the lives of his citizens, modernizing Spain,
and centralizing power in Madrid. Creoles, who were accustomed to
considerable local autonomy, responded by demanding more radical
changes than Carlos III was willing to permit. By the nineteenth
century many Latin Americans considered their government
unresponsive to their needs and indifferent to their opinions.
1. ___________________________________
2. Rebellions did break out in Latin America during the eighteenth
century, headed by Amerinds and disgruntled citizens. They pushed
for reforms such as the removal of corrupt officials, the end of forced
labor service, and better working conditions in the mines. None of
the revolts, however, were directed against Spanish rule. Spain’s
authority in America remained unquestioned at the time, and few
thought that open revolt would stand any chance of military success.
It appeared that Spain, ruling a far-flung empire with a very small
number of professional soldiers, would continue to enjoy great
success into the future.
3. Spain’s success story in Latin America might have lasted longer
had it not been for Napoleon Bonaparte. Most Latin American
nations owe their liberation to a chain of events set in motion by the
dictator. Napoleon’s armies invaded Portugal in 1807 and Spain in
1808 due to their violation of France’s Continental System. When
Napoleon replaced the Spanish king with his brother Joseph, the
creoles saw the opportunity carry out revolutions while claiming
loyalty to the true king of Spain. Additionally, there was significant
public sympathy for efforts to “defend” the deposed king’s colonial
possessions against a French conqueror.
4. Beginning in 1810, uprisings against Spanish rule occurred within
regional contexts that eventually helped shape the boundaries of the
new nations. Some revolutions were spearheaded by local elites in
major cities such as Caracas and Buenos Aires, while others were
opposed by elites in similar cities, such as Mexico City and Lima.
Fighting also remained regional due to geographic barriers such as
the Andes Mountains, and the Amazon jungle. As a consequence,
revolutions were fought and won in one region at a time, rather than
as a general war for independence of the kind that took place in
Britain’s North American colonies. It also meant that newly
independent governments would begin building new nations at
different times, in different regions, under different circumstances,
with populations that did not consider themselves “Latin
Americans,” but citizens of individual regions.
2. ___________________________________
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3. ___________________________________
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4. ___________________________________
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In one clear sentence, state the main idea of the entire four paragraphs (thesis statement):
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Adapted from Connections: A World History, VangoBooks (Pearson Education Inc.), 2009.