Which pair correctly shows the clash between economic interest and moral ideal?

Correct answer: Merchants' profit and slaves' freedom

The direct answer is A: merchants’ profit and slaves’ freedom. Economic interest asks how people can earn money, while a moral ideal asks what is right and what dignity every human being deserves. In the slave system, merchants, ship owners, plantation owners, and other participants could gain wealth, but enslaved people lost freedom and suffered violence, separation from families, and forced labour. Therefore A shows a real conflict between profit and human freedom. B is wrong because a king’s crown and the colour of the Bastille do not express an economic-versus-moral conflict. C is wrong because convent education and a tennis court are unrelated institutions or places, not opposing economic and ethical interests. D is wrong because women’s clubs and church tax do not represent the central contradiction in slavery. The step-by-step idea is: slavery could create commercial gain; slavery violated freedom and human dignity; gain and justice therefore came into conflict. The answer does not mean every merchant had exactly the same role, but it correctly identifies the broad historical contradiction. Exam cue: whenever slavery is discussed, place “profit” beside “loss of freedom and human suffering.”