In the south, the paternalist ethos:

a. reflected the hierarchical society in which the planter took responsibility for the lives of those around him.

Paternalist ethos or Southern slave owners were dedicated to a ranked, agrarian society. Paternalism was deep-seated in slave society and allowed slave owners to think of themselves as caring, accountable masters even as they bought and sold their human property. The statement "reflected the hierarchical society in which the planter took responsibility for the lives of those around him." Is correct since paternalist ethos are dedicated to a hierarchical society.