Which statement provides the best evidence to support the conclusion that the piedmont and coastal plains regions were georgia's most ideal locations for cotton production during the antebellum period? a) in 1860, over 67,000 georgians were employed as farmers and almost 20,000 more worked as farm laborers. b) the piedmont and coastal plains regions provided a combination of suitable soil and climate for cotton production. c) planters were landowners who owned 20 or more field slaves; they made up georgia's upper class and dominated the state's business and government. d) by the 1840s, railroad construction gave georgia planters an alternative to transporting cotton via steamboat and provided a better way to transport large quantities of cotton to the ocean port at savannah.