Transatlantic Trade Practice Test

Secondary-source excerpt (c. 100 words): Economic historians describe how commodity chains linked distant producers and consumers. Sugar grown by enslaved laborers in the Caribbean could be shipped to Britain for refining, then re-exported to Europe. Tobacco from the Chesapeake might be processed and taxed in English ports before reaching continental buyers. Each step generated profits for merchants, shippers, and states. These chains demonstrate how colonial economies were embedded in broader imperial and international markets.

Which statement best illustrates a commodity chain in the British Atlantic world?

Secondary-source excerpt (c. 95 words): Economic historians note that plantation agriculture in the Americas produced commodities that reshaped European diets and consumption, particularly sugar. The demand for these goods encouraged further investment in plantations and shipping, while also increasing the scale of the slave trade. In the British Empire, customs revenue and re-export profits became important to state finance. Thus, colonial production influenced metropolitan economic and fiscal policy.

Which choice best describes a major metropolitan (British) benefit from plantation-based Atlantic trade?