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Read the passage from Sugar Changed the World. In Brazil, when word came that the harvest was about to begin, a priest came to bless the mill—and the workers. The blessing was like the whistle at the start of a race, for now everything sped up. Slaves were given long, sharp machetes, which would be their equipment—but for some also their weapons—until the harvest was done. The cutters worked brutal, seemingly endless shifts during the harvest—for the hungry mills crushed cane from four in the afternoon to ten the next morning, stopping only in the midday heat. Slaves had to make sure there was just enough cane to feed the turning wheels during every one of those eighteen hours. How does the authors’ choice of hungry to describe the mills best support the claim? by showing the relentless pace that enslaved people had to keep during the harvest by showing that the mills began to be very productive after the priest’s blessing by showing that enslaved people had to feed the mills every day until there was no cane left by showing that the mills were the best pieces of equipment to produce sugar

User Yurowitz
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Final answer:

The authors' use of 'hungry' to describe the mills metaphorically emphasizes the exploitative and relentless nature of sugar mill operations, representing the continuous and demanding labor enforced upon enslaved workers during the sugarcane harvest.

Step-by-step explanation:

The authors’ choice of the word hungry to describe the mills in the passage from Sugar Changed the World is significant in supporting the text's claim. This metaphorical use is designed to evoke the image of a relentless, insatiable consumption similar to that of a living organism. The description illustrates the relentless pace that enslaved people were forced to maintain during the sugarcane harvest in order not to falter before the never-satisfied mills that kept devouring raw sugar cane. The usage of this description underscores the mill as a symbol of the harsh and oppressive conditions under which enslaved people labored.

Historical context presents sugar plantations as enterprises of mass production where sugar, an incredibly valuable and labor-intensive crop, was grown. The process of cultivating, harvesting, and processing of the sugar cane is discussed in terms of a brutal labor system, wherein the enslaved workers faced dangerous work conditions, grueling labor intensity, and the perpetual threat of punishment if they could not keep up with the high demands of production. This understanding illustrates the exploitative nature of the plantation system and the central role sugar production played in the formation of early capitalist economies.

User Alan Omar
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Answer:

A) by showing the relentless pace that enslaved people had to keep during the harvest

Step-by-step explanation:

2021 edg

User Monomo
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