Reforming Business and Industry in the Progressive Era
Question 8 • MCPSS AL-Grade 6 United States Studies: The Industrial Revolution to the Present - Summer School 2026
Read this excerpt from President Theodore Roosevelt’s 1901 State of the Union Address.Corporations engaged in interstate commerce should be regulated if they are found to [harm] public [interest]. It should be as much the aim of those who seek for social-betterment to rid the business world of crimes of cunning. . . . Great corporations exist only because they are created and safeguarded by our institutions; and it is therefore our right and our duty to see that they work in harmony with these institutions.
Answer
A
The government should run corporations to improve society.
B
The government should create corporations that aid the public.
C
The government should help corporations with any labor problems.
D
The government should regulate corporations to safeguard society.
Explanation
Roosevelt says corporations engaged in interstate commerce should be regulated when they harm the public interest. He also argues that because society’s institutions create and protect corporations, the government has a duty to make sure they serve society’s interests. This supports regulating corporations to safeguard society, not having the government run or create them.
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