![]() ![]() Similar forms of tenant farming are still found in some places around the world. So too, African Americans left the system as they moved to better-paying industrial jobs in the North during the Great Migration. Sharecropping in the United States gradually died out after World War II as the mechanization of farming became widespread. Landowners also often invested the money in mechanization, reducing the need for labour and leaving more sharecropping families, Black and white, underemployed and in poverty. Many white landowners kept the money and allowed the land previously worked by sharecroppers to remain empty. The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 offered farmers money to produce less cotton in order to raise prices. Cotton prices fell dramatically after the stock market crash of 1929, and the ensuing downturn bankrupted farmers. The Great Depression had devastating effects on sharecropping, as did the South’s continued overproduction of and overemphasis on cotton and the ravages of the destructive boll weevil. Southern courts were unlikely to rule in favour of Black sharecroppers against white landowners. ![]() Immediately following the Civil War, financially distressed landowners could rent land to African American sharecroppers, secure their debt and labour, and then drive them away just before it was time to harvest the crops. Landowners often weighed harvested crops themselves, which presented further opportunities to deceive or extort sharecroppers. Landowners also charged extremely high interest rates. Many contracts forbade sharecroppers from saving cotton seeds from their harvest, forcing them to increase their debt by obtaining seeds from the landowner. A string of poor seasons or periods of low prices, coupled with the proliferation of unfair practices with little legal recourse, meant that many sharecroppers were held under the tacit bondage of economic insecurity (see also debt slavery).Ĭontracts between landowners and sharecroppers were typically harsh and restrictive. Sharecroppers received what was left if they were able to pay back the owners-generally about half of what had been produced under decent arrangements. Charges for the land, supplies, and housing were deducted from the sharecroppers’ portion of the harvest, often leaving them with substantial debt to the landowners in bad years. Cabins were commonly rented to the workers. In addition to the land, the owners usually provided animal power, machinery, and most of the other inputs in the form of an advance. ![]() ![]() Landowners, short of capital, favoured the system because it did not require them to pay cash wages. Indeed, many plantations continued to run as large operations that were worked by wage-labourers or sharecroppers, including also poor rural whites, and sharecropping gradually became the accepted labour system in most of the South. SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!įollowing the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery, most freed people lacked land or money and had to continue working for white plantation owners.Learn about the major environmental problems facing our planet and what can be done about them! Saving Earth Britannica Presents Earth’s To-Do List for the 21st Century.Britannica Beyond We’ve created a new place where questions are at the center of learning.100 Women Britannica celebrates the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, highlighting suffragists and history-making politicians.COVID-19 Portal While this global health crisis continues to evolve, it can be useful to look to past pandemics to better understand how to respond today.Student Portal Britannica is the ultimate student resource for key school subjects like history, government, literature, and more.Demystified Videos In Demystified, Britannica has all the answers to your burning questions.This Time in History In these videos, find out what happened this month (or any month!) in history.#WTFact Videos In #WTFact Britannica shares some of the most bizarre facts we can find.Britannica Classics Check out these retro videos from Encyclopedia Britannica’s archives.Britannica Explains In these videos, Britannica explains a variety of topics and answers frequently asked questions. ![]()
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