Sharecropping

Sharecropping was a system of agriculture that was common in the United States during the Reconstruction era following the Civil War. In this system, landowners would allow tenant farmers to use their land in exchange for a portion of the crops grown on that land. The sharecroppers typically did not own the land they worked on, and their livelihoods were often dependent on the success of the crops they produced.

Sharecropping was often exploitative, as landowners could set high rents or impose high interest rates on loans given to sharecroppers. This often led to sharecroppers accumulating debt and becoming trapped in a cycle of poverty.

Sharecropping was particularly prevalent in the South, where many freed slaves and poor white farmers became sharecroppers due to a lack of other opportunities for land ownership. The system ultimately perpetuated economic disparity and kept many sharecroppers in a state of economic dependence on the landowners.

Though sharecropping eventually declined in the 20th century as farming practices and labor markets evolved, its legacy continues to shape patterns of poverty and disenfranchisement in the Southern United States.