Society, economy, politics and culture are the four basic cornerstones that are constantly changing with time. These four basic elements are key factors in deciding exactly what type of "time," people were living in. Understanding that these general terms relate directly and indirectly with one another allows for accurate hypotheses to be made about historical events and periods. Most of the examples used to help define each of the four categories range from the Civil war to the Post-Reconstruction era. The best way to help understand these topics is to sub-divide them into 2 categories. Society and economy fall under the "measurable," division where as politics and cultures are under the "incalculable," category.
Society and economy are similar to each other in a way where the things that define these two words can be tangibly measured some way or another. A society is a group of people living in an environment. It can be most easily seen when broken down into different classes (upper, middle, and low), although a society can be as general as the world population. For example, initiating a census allows for the population of the entire world to be calculated. This is a tangible number that can be recorded. Another example of a society was the groups known as the "carpetbaggers", and the "scalawags." Carpetbaggers were white northerners that moved to the South to help with Reconstruction, and the scalawags were white southerners who also supported the Republican Party (Lichtenstein, Strasser, Rosenzweig - p.6). These groups were mainly low class farmers that were against the rich White southerners that had made a monopoly on farming. The black middle class also emerged as a society during this time. After blacks were guaranteed civil and political rights they began creating churches and an organized school system. They even began encompassing state legislatures by winning elections and becoming involved in state governments (Lichtenstein, Strasser, Rosenzweig - p.