16. Document Project 16: Debates about Laissez-Faire

Quiz for Document 16.5 William Graham Sumner, A Defense of Laissez-Faire, 1883

Quiz for Document 16.5: William Graham Sumner, A Defense of Laissez-Faire, 1883

Choose the best answer to the question.

1. What did William Graham Sumner believe was the aim of humanitarians and reformers?

To focus on the interests of the poor above all other groups

To prevent the industrious from becoming rich and powerful

To give the weak and strong the same protection under the law

To ensure that the poor and weak are clothed and fed

2. According to Sumner, what is the result of a focus on the plight of the lower social classes?

Greater social equality

Marxist progression to communism

Discrimination against success

Better quality of life for all

3. Which of the following groups of the Gilded Age would have been most likely to support Sumner’s argument?

immigrants

Robber Barons

African Americans

Philanthropists

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