Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow.
Underlying any relationship between Haiti and Africa is the fact that the population of that country originated from Africa to a far greater extent than on other Caribbean Islands; 90% of the Haitians are full-blooded Negroes, the rest mulattoes.
The total eradication of the white element was the consequence of a particular political and economic situation of the island Saint- Domingue, which was the name of Haiti under French colonization.
Other than on the other Caribbean islands where the early arrival of European settlers resulted in a development of a white indigenous population, Saint-Domingue remained untouched until 1697, when the peace treaty of Riswyck ended the dispute between France and Spain over the ownership of this island.
At that time it had already been proved that the production of sugar was the most profitable industry in this area particularly if the estates were large enough and labour costs could be kept low by extensive use of slave labour, which was brought over from Africa.
So the new settlers of Saint-Domingue belonged to two groups greatly contrasted in social condition and number. On the one side, there was a small group of French noblemen, owners of immense sugar estates maintaining in Saint-Domingue the privileges which they had lost in France under Louis XIV, on the other side there were the African slaves living in miserable conditions but conscious that they outnumbered their masters by hundreds of thousands.
These contradictions within the society led to the outbreak of the slave revolt in 1792, which differed from other revolts in that area in that it was successful, and in 1804 after many ups and downs the victorious slaves of Saint-Domingue proclaimed a new state, named Haiti.
Most of the white landlords had fled the island during the hostilities and the few remaining ones were killed after independence.
The French settlers preferred to live in Saint-Domingue because ____________
A. Louis XIV allowed them their usual privileges there B. the African slaves there lived in miserable conditions C. they could enjoy the rights they had lost in France D. they were not patriotic
