The rise of industrial capitalism

Read the excerpt and answer the question below.

“In whatever direction we look in any section of our vast republic, we find prodigious combinations of railway capital actually perfected, or progressing rapidly toward complete absorption of all smaller lines. This tendency to consolidation is irresistible. The economic advantages are so great, the temptations to vast profits are so incalculable, and the allurements to ambitious and able men afforded by the control of these mighty social machines are so enticing, that the movement must go forward.”

-Source: George Henry Lewis, National Consolidation of the Railways of the United States, 1893

Which of the following issues of the period was the author most likely concerned with in the excerpt?

(Choice A)
the practice of business owners who acquired smaller businesses to create bigger ones
(Choice B)
the increasing costs for farmers and small business owners to transport their goods on railroads
(Choice C)
the acquisition of territory by the United States, expanding to the Pacific Ocean
(Choice D)
the policy decision to increase tariffs on foreign goods to improve the United States’ economy

AP®︎/College US History

Course: AP®︎/College US History > Unit 6

Problem