Question

Use the text excerpt to answer the question.

Some historians are convinced that the expansion of slavery was linked to profits planters made from growing cash crops such as tobacco, rice, indigo, and sugar. By the eighteenth century the sugar islands in the Caribbean served as a major market place for enslaved people. The sugar crop and enslaved harvesting of the crop were a major income source for plantation owners in the Caribbean.

Which of the following accurately investigates the reasons why the African slave trade spread to the Caribbeans?

(1 point)
Responses

African slave traders exported enslaved people to the Caribbean in exchange for more fertile plantation land.
African slave traders exported enslaved people to the Caribbean in exchange for more fertile plantation land.

The demand to colonize newly conquered lands in Portugal and Britain prompted landowners to purchase enslaved people.
The demand to colonize newly conquered lands in Portugal and Britain pompted landowners to purchase enslaved people.
The demand to colonize newly conquered lands in Portugal and Britain prompted landowners to purchase enslaved people.

The growing demand for sugar encouraged plantation owners to purchase enslaved people to increase their profits.
The growing demand for sugar encouraged plantation owners to purchase enslaved people to increase their profits.

The demand for rice rose during the seventeenth century, which increased the demand of enslaved people.
The demand for rice rose during the seventeenth century, which increased the demand of enslaved people.

Answer 1

The growing demand for sugar encouraged plantation owners to purchase enslaved people to increase their profits.

Reason: The excerpt emphasizes that sugar islands were a major marketplace for enslaved people and that the sugar crop and its labor were a major income source for Caribbean plantation owners, so demand for sugar drove the expansion of the slave trade there.