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 Americans
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 culture
from materialist excess. Buttressed
by mercantilist notions that government
should be both regulator and promoter
(30) of economic activity, these norms persisted
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 completely.
Hard times continued to revive
popular demands for regulating busi-
(40) ness and softening the harsh edges of
laissez-faire capitalism.
Q36:
According to the passage, the Progressive historians mentioned in line 5 and the scholars
mentioned in line 17 disagree with regard to which of the following?
A. Whether laissez-faire became the predominant ethos in the nineteenth-century
United States
B. Whether moral restraints on acquisitiveness were necessary in the nineteencentury
United States
C. The economic utility of mercantilist notions of government
D. The nature of the historical conditions necessary for the development of laissezfaire
capitalism in the nineteen-century United States
E. The existence of significant opposition to the development of laissez-faire
capitalism in the nineteen-century United States
MINE A
ANS E
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