Question

questions 25 through 27 refer to the following. \mississippi planter and agricultural reformer m. w. phillips, a regular contributor to the american cotton planter, wrote about soil exhaustion and crop rotation, and extolled the virtues of manuring and self - provisioning. in one of his most widely reproduced articles, phillips condemned planters before whom everything has to bend and give way to large crops of cotton. \phillips imagined the cotton economy in terms of flows of energy, nutrients, and fertility, all of which he was convinced were being expended at an unsustainable rate. he used images of human, animal, and mineral depletion to represent an onrushing ecological catastrophe. but he did so within the incised limited terms allowed him by his culture - the culture of cotton. phillips was arguing that the slaveholding south needed to slow the rate at which it was converting human beings into cotton plants\ walter johnson, historian, river of dark dreams: slavery and empire in the cotton kingdom, 2013 26 mark for review which of the following most directly contributed to the development described in the excerpt? a the introduction of enslaved africans in the 1600s into what is now the united states b the election of andrew jackson to the presidency and his decision to enforce tariff collections c a series of insurrections and rebellions by enslaved people in the first half of the 1800s d a belief by southern businessmen that the southern economy should focus on the export of select agricultural products

Explanation:

The excerpt discusses the cotton - based economy in the South. The idea of converting "human beings into cotton plants" and the focus on large crops of cotton (as condemned by Phillips) aligns with a southern economic focus on select agricultural exports (cotton).

• Option A: The introduction of enslaved Africans in the 1600s is too early for the context of the cotton - centric economy described in the excerpt (which seems to be more relevant to the antebellum period).
• Option B: Andrew Jackson's presidency and tariff collections are not directly related to the agricultural and economic focus on cotton production and its unsustainable nature as described.
• Option C: Insurrections and rebellions by enslaved people are not the direct contributor to the development of the cotton - centric, potentially unsustainable agricultural economy described.
• Option D: A belief by southern businessmen that the southern economy should focus on the export of select agricultural products (like cotton) directly relates to the description in the excerpt about the over - emphasis on cotton production (even at the cost of soil exhaustion etc.).

Answer:

D. A belief by southern businessmen that the southern economy should focus on the export of select agricultural products