SHARECROPPING

SHARECROPPING

• Sharecropping was implemented after the end of the Civil War
• It was used to keep newly freed slaves in a cycle of poverty
• This was used as a way of work for newly freed slaves.
• The owner of the land lets someone work their land in exchange for half of the crops

SHARECROPPING

• Sharecropping started in ancient China, India, and Rome.
• Two thirds of sharecroppers were white.
• Both the landowner and the sharecropper were unpopular.
• High interest rates, unpredictable harvests, and unscrupulous landlords and merchants kept farmers in debt.

SHARECROPPING

• This was an accepted idea because no one could separate their family
• Sharecroppers rarely could save enough money to buy their own land
• Formed unions in the 1930, Southern Tenant Farmers Union.
• Reflected the power whites had over blacks Had benefits and costs for both
• landowners and sharecroppers.

SHARECROPPING

• Landowners provide the tools and materials.
• Sharecroppers were assigned to a plot of land to farm.
• Sharecropping increased in use during the Great Depression.
• The number of blacks outnumbered the whites but they had no
• authority.

SHARECROPPING

• Sharecroppers tried to escape by migrating to the north.
• More than six million sharecroppers moved to cities in the north.
• They tried to escape on trains and buses.
• Industrial work was easier than sharecropping.

SHARECROPPING

• Sharecropping began in America after the emancipation of slaves.
• The time period of sharecropping stretched from the 19th century to the contemporary era.
• This was implemented by the Freedmans bureau to draw up a labor contract between white
• landowners and newly freed slaves.
• Many refused the new system, despite the lack of work.

SHARECROPPING

• In Georgia the percentage of farms that were "sharecropped" was 32% in 1880.
• By 1910 the percentage had increased to 37% of their 291,027 farms, that's about
• 90,000 farms.
• Percentages varied, but tended to be higher in states that predominantly grew cotton
• Burke, Dooly, and Houston, for example, led the countries cotton growth and had a higher percentage

SHARECROPPING

• Terms of the labor contract varied, but if the tenant had less to offer the odds favored the landowner.
• At the end of seasons, the tenant would often find themselves in debt to the landowner.
• This forces the tenant to work another season to pay the debt.
• If the tenant has more to offer, like they're "renting" the land they tended to get more after the
• season ended.

SHARECROPPING

• To pay the debt acquired by the laborer they gave a portion of the profit to the landowner.
• The landowners often took advantage of the laborer. Most laborers were illiterate and couldn't keep
• records on the actual profit they made off their crop.
• The sharecropper was often told the profits weren't sufficient enough to cover the debt.
• Keeping the agricultural workforce locked in debt for years and years.

SHARECROPPING

• During this time period many stories were written with sharecropping being the theme
• Charles W. Chesnutt wrote "The Wife of His Youth" and "Other Stories of Color Lines."
• The writing of these books resulted in the imprisonment of the author.
• "A Summer Tragedy" ,written by Anna Bontemps, tells of a couple who got in their car and drove into
• the river.

SHARECROPPING

• Multiple unions formed due to sharecropping.
• Including the Southern Tenant Farmers Union.
• These unions had difficulty setting up a headquater in the south.
• Constant attacks made it impossible to establish a permanent base.

SHARECROPPING

• The Sharecroppers Union, was the largest communist lea branch in the Deep South.
• Founded in Alabama in the spring of 1931, by a group of black tenant farmers.
• Within a year the SCU, had gained about 600 members.
• Founded by Ralph and Tommy Gray.

SHARECROPPING

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