How might settlement houses have helped the poor “help themselves”?

“well,” he says, “there’s excuse for picks and letting-on, in a case like this; if it warn’t so, i wouldn’t approve of it, nor i wouldn’t stand by and see the rules broke—because right is right, and wrong is wrong, and a body ain’t got no business doing wrong when he ain’t ignorant and knows better. it might answer for you to dig jim out with a pick, without any letting-on, because you don’t know no better; but it wouldn’t for me, because i do know better.” the meaning in this excerpt is

Interest groups representing businesses and investors are often among the most successful lobbying groups for all of the following reasons, except a. such groups have the financial resources to mount sustained campaigns on their own behalf b. these groups' members contribute heavily to many legislators' campaigns and in so doing gain greater access to legislators c. these groups have often been in existence for decades, allowing them to both master the legislative system and develop close ties with legislators d. the members of these groups make up the majority of voters in many districts

What was the most explosive issue facing the united states prior to the start of the civil war?