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?
A. African slave traders exported enslaved people to the Caribbean in exchange for more fertile plantation land.
B. The demand for rice rose during the seventeenth century, which increased the demand of enslaved people.
C. The growing demand for sugar encouraged plantation owners to purchase enslaved people to increase their profits.
D. The demand to colonize newly conquered lands in Portugal and Britain prompted landowners to purchase enslaved people.
C. The growing demand for sugar encouraged plantation owners to purchase enslaved people to increase their profits.
Why are the other answers wrong?
A. African slave traders exported enslaved people to the Caribbean in exchange for more fertile plantation land: This answer is incorrect because there is no evidence in the text to suggest that African slave traders exchanged enslaved people for plantation land. The focus is on the profits made from growing cash crops.
B. The demand for rice rose during the seventeenth century, which increased the demand of enslaved people: This answer is incorrect because the text does not mention the rising demand for rice as a reason for the spread of the African slave trade to the Caribbean. The focus is specifically on the sugar crop and its connection to the demand for enslaved labor.
D. The demand to colonize newly conquered lands in Portugal and Britain prompted landowners to purchase enslaved people: This answer is incorrect because the text does not mention the colonization of newly conquered lands in Portugal and Britain as a reason for the spread of the African slave trade to the Caribbean. The focus is on the profits made from the sugar crop and the demand for enslaved labor in the Caribbean market.