InQuisitive Practice Test

When a larger pool of workers is available, capitalists benefit by having a cheap, easily replaceable labor supply. The rise of Chinese immigrants—reaching about 100,000 by 1882—gave American employers a substantial source of workers willing to take low-wage, dangerous, and undesirable jobs. This makes it easier to cut labor costs and keep profits up, since employers can hire more workers at lower wages and replace them with little disruption if demand shifts or workers leave. So, beyond their concrete contributions to specific projects like railroad construction, the key effect of this population growth is the creation of an expendable labor force that helps keep wages down and profits higher. The other options describe real activities—railroad work or agricultural techniques—but they don’t capture the economic mechanism as clearly as the idea of a readily available, replaceable labor pool.