1. D. Strict racial hierarchy
The three biggest colonial powers, the British Empire, France, and Spain, had lot of similarities, but they also had some differences, especially when it came to the treatment of people fro different races. The French and Spanish initially were discriminatory on racial basis, but changed very quickly, and the French started to accept people from other races, while the Spanish mixed with the native populations and created the mestizos. The British, on the other hand, kept the strict racial hierarchy for much longer. The whites had all the rights, while the people of other races were discriminated on every level, which was hampering their prosper, and was putting them in a very bad situation where they didn't really had any opportunities in life apart from the ones the white people set for them.
2. B. new crops introduced to Europe generated further interest in the New World
The Columbian exchange brought in lot of things from the Old World to the New World and vice versa. One of those things were the crops. The crops from the New World turned out to be very attractive, useful, profitable, so understandably in high demand. This led to an ever growing interest in the New World, as it was obvious that it had lot to offer. Some of the crops that had big influence were the potatoes, tobacco, and corn. The potatoes and corn manged to help a lot with the malnutrition problem, while the tobacco turned out to be the most popular crop used for recreation by the people.