Answer:
Cartel
Explanation:
According to sociology, a cartel is a formal group that is formed to make price decisions on a product or service. In other words, a cartel is a organization that is created from a formal agreement between producers of a product or service with the objective of regulate their supply or manipulate the prices and therefore, limiting the competition by controlling the production, distribution and pricing of the service they do. So, a cartel is an agreement between commercial enterprises.
because any new states admitted to the Union might upset the sectional balance
I would say it was based on reason, not religion. It was an intellectual movement based on reason, it dominated the world ideas in Europe.