All of the following are accurate statements about the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River system except: a.
They aided the growth of industry in the Midwest.
b.
They are still important trade routes today.
c.
Cities connected by this transportation network are home to heavy manufacturing.
d.
They have helped the Midwest become the nation's center of business and finance.

D.

Explanation:

The Great Lakes and Mississippi River were and are important routes of trade and transportation in the Midwest.

When the Industrial Revolution hit America, the Great Lakes and Mississippi River both played important roles in industry, trade, and transportation. Each of the Great Lakes provided some sort of benefit during the Industrial Revolution, such as the mining production and sources of raw materials from Lake Superior, trade with indigenous people from Lake Michigan, timber logging from Huron, and heavy industrialization from Erie (Burnell, 2018, pg. 3).

The Mississippi River also had a tremendous impact. Not only did it provide the means of bulk transport from the Great Lakes to the 10 states it reached, but it also benefitted the industries along it as well.

Today, the Mississippi River is still a transportation source, but it also is being used for green hydroelectric power.

And, to quickly cap off the answer to this question, the Midwest was never a hub for business and finance, it was always an industrial hub.

https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/144760/Burnell_Alison_IP_Thesis.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1