Social stratification is the degree to which social groups within a society vary with respect to access to economic resources, power, and prestige. Societies are generally grouped into three types: egalitarian, rank, and class societies. In egalitarian societies, there are no special social groups with extra resources, power, and prestige. In rank societies, their may be positions which earn more prestige, but those positions do not bring extra resources or power. On the other hand in class societies, each individual class brings access to different amounts of resources, power, and prestige. Class societies are also characterized as open class or caste systems. In open class systems, there is a possibility of moving into a class in which you were not born. On the other hand, it is not permitted to move from one caste to another.
Cuba had an open class system. There were three distinct groups: the rich, the poor, and the servants. There were no legal barriers or customs which kept the people in the class to which they were born. There were, however, economic barriers to moving up to a new class. The effect of having wealth as a criteria creates barriers to upward mobility.
The rich had more economic resources that the poor. Political power was basically held by the rich. There was also more prestige for the rich. Servants had very little, but were free to leave if they chose to.
The way that the people of a culture are grouped can say a lot about that culture. Cuban people were basically grouped by economic classification. There blood lines could jump in and out of classes. The people enjoyed the freedom to marry who they wanted to and if they were lucky . They may even move up to a higher class of people. The open class system allows the possibility of making a better life for you, your family, and your decendents.