How did the system of sharecropping affect landowners and laborers in the South?

Question

The system did not provide landowners with enough profits because laborers often took sizable cuts.
The system typically drove laborers off the farms they had worked when they were enslaved and left landowners without workers.
The system often trapped laborers in a cycle of debt and dependence while allowing landowners to profit from laborers’ hard work.
The system left landowners with mounting piles of debt because laborers had little to no incentives to work the fields.

Answer 1

The system of sharecropping had a significant and often adverse impact on both landowners and laborers in the South following the Civil War. The most accurate description of its effects among the options provided is:

The system often trapped laborers in a cycle of debt and dependence while allowing landowners to profit from laborers’ hard work.

Under the sharecropping system, laborers (often formerly enslaved people) would work a portion of land owned by landowners in exchange for a share of the crop produced. Although this arrangement seemed beneficial at first, many laborers found themselves in a cycle of debt. They often had to borrow money for seeds, tools, and living expenses, which would lead to them owing more than what they could pay back. As a result, they were frequently unable to leave the farms or seek better opportunities, leading to a dependency on landowners for their livelihood.

For landowners, this system provided a steady, if sometimes meager, profit without the costs associated with hiring wage laborers directly. The laborers' hard work produced crops that would benefit the landowners financially, even as the laborers themselves struggled to make ends meet. While some landowners did face challenges if sharecroppers could not pay off their debts, the structural inequities largely favored those who owned the land.