6. Infer why cotton production decreased after the Civil War, based on evidence from the passage
a) The loss of slave labor in the south to work the fields
b) Americans moved on from cotton textiles to silk
c) The death of almost all cotton plantation owners in the fighting
d) The boom in the southern economy due to the southern victory

a) The loss of slave labor in the south to work the fields

Explanation:

"Cotton was the biggest crop in the south; if there  weren't enough hands in the field to produce it, the southern economy would hit rock bottom."

The South didn't win the Civil War, so D is incorrect. Americans didn't move on to silk, so B is incorrect. Plantation owners didn't all die, there were still a considerable amount after the war, so C is incorrect.

yellow fever and other tropical diseases