Question

... they embark four and five hundred of them in a boat which, sometimes, is not a cargo boat. the very stench is enough to kill most of them, and, indeed, very many die. the wonder is that twenty percent of them are not lost.
-source: fray tomas de mercado, spanish dominican friar, 1587
which of the following developments contributed most directly to the conditions described in the excerpt?
choose 1 answer:
a military conflict between west african peoples
b lax enforcement of the british navigation acts
c european mines and plantations in the new world
d forced religious conversions during the reconquista

Explanation:

The excerpt describes the harsh conditions of transporting enslaved people, which was driven by the demand for labor in European mines and plantations in the New World (the trans - Atlantic slave trade). Option A: Military conflicts between West African peoples were not the direct cause of the trans - Atlantic slave trade's transportation conditions. Option B: The Navigation Acts were about trade regulation, not related to the slave trade's transportation conditions. Option D: Forced religious conversions during the Reconquista had no direct connection to the slave trade's transportation. So the correct answer is C as European mines and plantations in the New World created the demand for enslaved labor, leading to the described transportation conditions.

Answer:

C. European mines and plantations in the New World