Question

the erie canal poured into new york city wealth far exceeding that which its early friends predicted. ... in the city, merchants, bankers, warehousemen, and shippers ... seized the opportunity to perfect and specialize their services, fostering round after round of business innovations that within a decade of the opening of the erie canal had made new york by far the best place in america to engage in commerce. ...
... even before its economic benefits were realized fully, rival seaports with hopes of tapping interior trade began to imagine dreadful prospects of permanent eclipse. whatever spirit of mutual good feeling and national welfare once greeted internal improvements now disappeared behind desperate efforts in cities ... to create for themselves a westward connection.
john lauritz larson, historian, internal improvement: national public works and the promise of popular government in the early united states, 2001
18 mark for review
the excerpt best illustrates which of the following developments?
a the extension of commerce with native americans
b the expansion of access to markets
c the growth in the internal slave trade
d the increase in semisubsistence agricultural production

Explanation:

The text talks about the Erie Canal bringing wealth to New York City, with merchants etc. specializing services and business innovations. It also mentions rival seaports wanting a westward connection (related to market access). Option A (Native American commerce) is not mentioned. Option C (slave trade) is not in the text. Option D (semisubsistence agriculture) is not relevant. The focus is on business and market access expansion.

Answer:

B. The expansion of access to markets