Final answer:
Plantation owners were at the top of Virginia society because they owned more land and slaves, which translated to greater wealth and power. Additionally, their elite status was reinforced by a social order based on white supremacy and a shared interest in maintaining racial hierarchy.
Step-by-step explanation:
Plantation owners were at the top of Virginia society because they owned more land and more slaves. This ownership of extensive property and human labor gave them significant economic power and social prestige. Wealthy planter families often formed an aristocracy, influencing politics and society. In a society built on agricultural production, especially in the South, the amount of land and the number of enslaved people one owned were direct measures of wealth and power. The planter elite also had aspirations of expanding their influence through the cotton kingdom and lived lifestyles of leisure, distinguishing themselves from the rest of society.
Furthermore, despite disparities in wealth, a common belief in White supremacy linked non-slaveholding Whites to the plantation owners, creating a shared social interest against potential slave uprisings. Plantation owners represented the top of a societal structure that also consisted of small landowners, poor White laborers, and a predominantly enslaved Black population. Their position allowed them to perpetuate a racial hierarchy that kept them in power.