40 Q35 to Q37: For many years, historians thought that the development of capitalism had not faced serious challenges in the United Line States. Writing in the early twentieth cen- (5) tury, Progressive historians sympathized with the battles waged by farmers and small producers against large capitalists in the late nineteenth century, but they did not question the widespread acceptance (10) of laissez-faire (unregulated) capitalism throughout American history. Similarly, Louis Hartz, who sometimes disagreed with the Progressives, argued that Amer- icans accepted laissez-faire capitalism (15) without challenge because they lacked a feudal, precapitalist past. Recently, however, some scholars have argued that even though laissez-faire became the prevailing ethos in nineteen-century (20) America, it was not accepted without struggle. Laissez-faire capitalism, they suggest, clashed with existing religious and communitarian norms that imposed moral constraints on acquisitiveness to (25) protect the weak from the predatory, the strong from corruption, and the entire cul- ture from materialist excess. Buttressed by mercantilist notions that government should be both regulator and promoter (30) of economic activity, these norms per- sisted long after the American Revolution helped unleash the economic forces that produced capitalism. These scholars argue that even in the late nineteenth (35) century, with the government’s role in the economy considerably diminished, laissez-faire had not triumphed com- pletely. Hard times continued to revive popular demands for regulating busi- (40) ness and softening the harsh edges of laissez-faire capitalism. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

my puzzle:please look the following sentence first:

Laissez-faire capitalism, they suggest, clashed with existing religious and communitarian norms that imposed moral constraints on acquisitiveness to (25) protect the weak from the predatory, the strong from corruption, and the entire cul- ture from materialist excess.

Buttressed by mercantilist notions that government should be both regulator and promoter (30) of economic activity, these norms per- sisted long after the American Revolution helped unleash the economic forces that produced capitalism.

the former"the communitarian norms"clashs with the capitalism.

why "these norms"is also supported by mercantilist(support the capitalism)

in addition, what the meaning of the word' harsh edges' is

I think there is paradoxical ????? Q35: The primary purpose of the passage is to

norms that imposed moral constraints on acquisitiveness 与 Buttressed by mercantilist notions that government should be both regulator and promoter of economic activity 其实是一致的，或者说都是一个理论体系下的 （读到这里先把这句话体会一下）

而与Laissez-faire capitalism 相clash 的就是这套理论，所以没有paradox

3。softening the harsh edges of laissez-faire capitalism. 在我看来是一种。。。把不可具像的事物具体化（晕，我乱掰）

意思就是说使laissez-faire capitalism的界限被soft了，没有规定得那么死，那么不可compromise，就是那种感觉，楼主体会一下，偶表达不好

如有错误，请指正！