D) the people of their state
An independent clause is a sentence or part of one that can stand alone.
So I have a feeling that the first one is correct as "My sister and I love to cook" and "we spend hours cooking together" can both stand alone yet are joined by a semicolon.
I hope this has helped
The use of the word abruptly heightens the conflict by revealing to the reader that Mrs. Hale is becoming increasingly anxious
_Queenshadygucci_
The strange boy whistled and put his hand into his pocket, as far as the big coat sleeves would let them go.
Semicolon is not correct before the conjunction "and".
