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Historians have long debated the impact of the 1347 plague on European labor markets. Traditional accounts argue that the sudden scarcity of workers allowed peasants to demand higher wages and greater freedom. However, recent research suggests that in many regions, landowners successfully lobbied for laws that capped wages and restricted movement, effectively nullifying the economic advantages that the labor shortage might have provided. Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

1. To qualify a common historical argument by presenting evidence of a counter-strategy.
2. To argue that the 1347 plague had no significant impact on the European population.
3. To prove that the plague was the primary cause of the end of the feudal system in Europe.
4. To provide a detailed list of the specific laws enacted by landowners in the fourteenth century.

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