The fact that slaves were bought from local African chieftains shows which feature of slave trade?

Correct answer: It was based on many intermediaries and trade links

The direct answer is A: the trade depended on many intermediaries and connected trade links. Enslaved people were often captured or sold in Africa by local rulers or merchants, then purchased by European traders and transported across the Atlantic, where plantation owners used their forced labour. This shows a chain involving African intermediaries, European traders, ship owners, colonial plantation owners and markets. Option A is correct because it describes this network. Option B is wrong because French peasants alone did not run the trade. Option C is wrong because the trade was an economic system, not merely a Church religious arrangement. Option D is wrong because profit from plantation crops and commerce was a major motive. This does not make the system acceptable; it explains how exploitation was organised. Remember: a trade chain can contain several participants while still being based on coercion and human suffering.