Sharecropping
Libby Maron
Right after the war
During the period of reconstruction, there were many people who were left without jobs, money, and any way to get money. Some people were left without houses! Having once relied on the free labor of slaves, they were left without anything. Some freed slaves were equally worried, they are uneducated and without their own land and jobs, they had no source of income. Slaves often went back to work on the farms which they were once on. The problem was, many plantation owners lacked the money to pay the slaves to work for them.
Sharecropping comes in
The solution was sharecropping. Sharecropping means slaves will pay the plantation owner rent on a portion of property by giving the owner a share of the crops grown on their land. The owners of the plantation provided machinery needed for farming the land, and
"housing" materials.
"housing" materials.
The better deal
The freed slaves definitely drew the short end of the straw in this deal. The plantation owners definitely get the better deal.