What hidden contradiction did demand for colonial goods create in French society?

Correct answer: A society speaking of liberty used goods produced by slave labour

The governing concept is the contradiction between consumption, liberty, and coerced labour. French consumers sought colonial commodities such as sugar and coffee, while the production of many such goods depended on brutal plantation labour performed by enslaved people. Thus, a society that discussed freedom and natural rights could simultaneously benefit from an economy that denied freedom to millions. Option A is correct because it identifies both elements of the contradiction: public commitment to liberty and private or commercial dependence on slave-produced goods. B is false because colonial goods entered European markets, C denies the central plantation system, and D incorrectly describes colonies as communities of equal free citizens.