Final answer:
The complex society of the pre-Civil War South included the planter elite, white Southerners, and enslaved African Americans. Slavery defined their interactions, as it was the cornerstone of the Southern economy, social hierarchy, and culture. The end of slavery post-war led to substantial societal shifts and power struggles.
Step-by-step explanation:
By 1860, the South's complex society comprised various groups that defined its social, economic, and political structure. At the apex of this society were the planter elite, a small class of wealthy slaveholders who were the most influential both regionally and nationally. The Upper South had an aristocratic gentry with generational ties to slavery, while the Deep South was home to a newly wealthy group of cotton plantation owners.
Beneath the planter elite, the majority of white Southerners, while not slaveholders, aspired to that status and adopted the racial ideologies and hierarchies that supported and justified slavery. These ideologies bound them together against class tensions and were reflected in the social values of temale honor and white womanhood protection. Additionally, the economic foundation of the South relied heavily on cotton production, which was intertwined with and dependent on the institution of slavery.
The enslaved African Americans, who made up a significant portion of the southern population, suffered under the yoke of slavery but resisted through creating their own culture, family bonds, and drawing hope from Christian beliefs. The social interactions across these groups were complex, informed by economic ties, racial ideologies, and the omnipresent hierarchy established by the slave-dependent economy.
Following the Civil War, the institution of slavery was dismantled, causing major societal changes as the foundation of the South's society and wealth was uprooted. Southern whites sought to maintain dominance through black codes and racial terrorism, whereas African Americans sought to find their place in a society that was grappling with a massive transformation.