Final answer:
Virginia had an aristocratic social system that supported the institution of slavery by maintaining the wealth and status of an elite class of landowners and slaveholders.
Step-by-step explanation:
Virginia had an aristocratic social system, which facilitated slavery. This system was characterized by the rule or influence of an elite class of landowners and slaveholders who wielded the majority of economic and political power. Controlling vast agricultural estates and utilizing slave labor were central to maintaining their wealth and status. In the antebellum period, the Southern elite formed their own standards of gentility and honor, which supported the institution of slavery as a necessary part of their culture and economy.
In comparison to other forms of labor and social structures, the aristocratic model offers limited social mobility. A meritocracy allows for the most social mobility, which contrasts with the rigid social hierarchy of the aristocratic system. The aristocratic system in Virginia during the antebellum era helped to solidify a racially based class structure with enslaved individuals at the bottom and the planter elite at the top.