"Our country is now entering a period of industrial development that requires vast aggregates of capital to construct and operate the machinery of modern production. To ensure that our domestic manufacturers are not crushed by foreign competitors who enjoy cheaper labor, the government must maintain a robust system of protective tariffs. This protective shield allows our infant and growing enterprises to consolidate their operations, secure domestic markets, and achieve the scale necessary for national prosperity."
—Address of the Industrial League to the United States Congress, 1877
Which of the following characterizations of the late-nineteenth-century United States economy is most directly challenged by the perspective expressed in the excerpt?
- AThe claim that the transition from household to factory production and the integration of regional markets only began during this era.
- The idea that the federal government maintained a policy of strict laissez-faire non-intervention in business affairs.Answer
- CThe view that urban middle-class reformers were the primary advocates for federal regulation of corporate monopolies during the 1870s.
- DThe argument that the primary purpose of trade regulations was to enrich a mother country at the expense of colonial development.