Final answer:
The most basic responsibility of all businesses is indeed economic - to make a profit, as advocated by Milton Friedman. However, businesses also have other social and ethical responsibilities. The assertion in the context of a proprietary colony that proprietors are only responsible for profit collection is false.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question addresses the fundamental economic responsibility of businesses. It's a widely held view, particularly in capitalist societies, that a business's primary responsibility is to its shareholders or owners and therefore its most basic responsibility is indeed economic - to make a profit. This concept was famously advocated by economist Milton Friedman, who stated that the social responsibility of businesses is to increase its profits. However, this doesn't negate the fact that proprietors and businesses have social, legal, and ethical responsibilities as well. In a proprietary colony, for example, the Proprietors also had responsibilities beyond simply collecting profits, including governance and the welfare of the colony.
The market revolution indeed resulted in significant social and economic changes in the United States, fundamentally restructuring relations of production and impacting societal roles. Lastly, in the Reconstruction era, cotton remained a strong economic basis for the South, although the economic structures surrounding it underwent drastic changes.