Final answer:
The correct answer is c) The South, where the economy was driven by cotton production reliant on slave labor, forming the cornerstone of its wealth and culture.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Antebellum economy described by the characteristics given is most accurately attributed to c) The South. This region produced the majority of the world's cotton supply prior to the Civil War and became an epicenter of cotton production with an economy heavily reliant on slave labor. The landscape was dramatically transformed to accommodate cotton fields, and the livelihood of enslaved African Americans was characterized by trauma and daily hardships, with the only solace for many found in Christianity and their communities. The economic growth in the South was driven by plantation owners who benefitted greatly from slavery, forming an elite class with significant economic and political power.
Wealthy Southern planters wielded most of the economic and political power in the region, developing proslavery arguments to defend their interests. Slavery formed the basis of the Southern economy, and as a result, the South became economically dependent on external markets for food, manufactured goods, and loans. Cotton was indeed king in the South during the Antebellum period, and the vast wealth generated by slave labor influenced the region's culture, politics, and deepened the divide leading to the Civil War.