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Difficulty: EasyEconomic Imperialism

Article 1: The Government of Costa Rica grants to the concessionaire the exclusive right to operate the railroad from San José to the Atlantic coast...

Article 10: To assist in the completion of the railroad, the Government grants to the concessionaire eight hundred thousand acres of national land, with the right to cultivate crops, including bananas, free of all agricultural taxes...

Article 22: All machinery, tools, and construction materials imported by the concessionaire for the railroad or agricultural plantations shall be exempt from all custom duties for twenty years.

—Contract between the Government of Costa Rica and Minor C. Keith, 1884

This contract is most representative of which global pattern of the late nineteenth century?

  1. A
    The establishment of direct colonial administration and formal territorial annexation by Western empires.
  2. B
    The revival of early modern mercantilist policies that relied on state-run trading monopolies.
  3. The growth of economic imperialism, through which foreign businesses gained significant control over resources and infrastructure in sovereign states.Answer
  4. D
    The emergence of the Columbian Exchange, which introduced new crops to Latin American agricultural systems.

Answer

The growth of economic imperialism, through which foreign businesses gained significant control over resources and infrastructure in sovereign states.
The contract represents economic imperialism because Costa Rica remained a sovereign nation politically, but granted massive land concessions, tax exemptions, and infrastructure control to a foreign private investor. This allowed foreign capital and businesses to dominate the local economy and resource extraction, a key feature of nineteenth-century economic imperialism in Latin America.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the source text to identify the nature of the transaction between the Costa Rican government and the foreign concessionaire.
The government is granting land, tax exemptions, and rail operation rights to a private foreign developer rather than being annexed or colonized.
Understanding the contract's details helps distinguish between political takeover and economic influence.
2
Differentiate between the options to determine which nineteenth-century process matches this type of economic arrangement.
A sovereign nation granting resource and infrastructure control to foreign business interests is the defining characteristic of economic imperialism.
This step identifies the correct historical concept and rules out direct colonization or earlier historical periods.

Key Concept

Economic imperialism in Latin America through infrastructure concessions and corporate influence.
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Economic Imperialism

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