Which of the following developments in the period 1450–1750 would a historian most likely cite to support Barkey’s claim regarding the Ottoman Empire and its predecessors and contemporaries in the first sentence of the second paragraph?

The establishment of a system of racial and social hierarchy in Spanish colonies in the Americas.

Explanation:

The establishment of a system of racial and social hierarchy in Spanish colonies in the Americas would support Barkey’s claim that previous and contemporary states were less tolerant, because the casta system imposed a rigid social hierarchy that included legal discrimination against groups that were further down the social ladder.

the correct answer is b, "fertility rates are increasing, so populations will grow more quickly in the future."