Final answer:
Option (c), Ships in the late 15th and early 16th centuries were powered by wind. In the 19th century, internal combustion engines were used where steam engines were too big.
Step-by-step explanation:
The ships that came to the West Indies in the late 15th and early 16th centuries were powered by wind. During this period, energy to propel vehicles such as ships was harnessed from natural elements like wind power and water flows, which were also essential for operating machines such as watermills and windmills. The original source of energy that powers both wind energy and hydropower is ultimately the sun, as it drives the atmospheric processes leading to wind and the hydrological cycle leading to flowing water.
In reference to the nineteenth-century manufacturing question, it was the internal combustion engines that enabled manufacturers to power machinery in situations where steam engines were too large. This invention permitted greater flexibility and portability in powering equipment compared to the earlier reliance on waterwheels, thus fostering the industrial growth of that era.