Linking the prosperity of Nantes and Bordeaux with slave trade raises what kind of question?

Correct answer: Whether economic prosperity was built on human suffering

Nantes and Bordeaux were important French port cities whose commercial prosperity was connected with Atlantic trade and colonial goods. Some merchants, investors, and businesses in these ports gained from trading networks that depended on slavery and plantation production. Asking how their prosperity was connected to the slave trade therefore moves beyond a simple celebration of economic growth. It asks who benefited, whose labour produced the wealth, and what human cost supported it.

The question does not mainly concern the number of prisoners in the Bastille, the king’s construction of ports, or women’s clubs managing harbours. It raises a moral and historical question about the relationship between wealth and human suffering. Economic success can exist alongside exploitation, so both profit and ethical responsibility must be examined. Hence choice A is correct.