Final answer:
British Parliament regulated the economic area through laws that benefited British merchants and traders via the Navigation Acts. These regulations were designed to support a mercantilist system, ensuring trade benefits for the mother country and the colonies, and also laying the groundwork for the American Revolution.
Step-by-step explanation:
The areas that the British Parliament regulated through laws were primarily in the economic domain, focusing on trade and commerce to the advantage of British merchants and traders. The primary beneficiaries of these regulations were indeed British merchants and traders, as the laws were established to ensure that trade benefits would accrue back to the mother country and her colonies through a mercantilist system.
The Navigation Acts were a series of laws that regulated trade between England and its colonies. These acts ensured that the colonies provided raw materials to British industry and in return, the colonies were expected to purchase manufactured goods from Britain. This system was designed to bolster the British economy and expand its empire through controlled trade that also benefited colonial planters to some degree. However, such regulations also caused dissent and laid the groundwork for future conflicts.
The correct answer to the question, which focuses on the areas regulated by the British Parliament and the primary beneficiary of these regulations, is A) Economy; British merchants and traders. The regulations helped build strong commercial ties with the colonies and were geared towards increasing the nation's wealth. That said, the colonists also saw some advantages, such as monopolies over certain enumerated articles and protection under the Royal Navy, although this ultimately led to a sense of discontent and contributed to the American Revolution.