Sharecropping
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Printed: October 27, 2014
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C HAPTER
Chapter 1. Sharecropping
1
Sharecropping
After the Civil War, America debated how to handle the millions of freed slaves. The eventual outcome was a system
of sharecropping, in which plantation owners retained possession of their land and allowed freedmen to farm small
parts of it. In return, the landowner received a percentage of the crop. The documents below include a photograph
of sharecroppers and a sharecropping contract. As you examine them, compare the sharecropping system to the
Radical Republican’s plan to give each freedman “40 acres and a mule.” Which would be better for the freed slaves?
Which would be better for the landowners? Which would be fairer?
Black Sharecroppers Picking Cotton in Georgia
Source: Black sharecroppers picking cotton in Georgia, photograph by T.W. Ingersoll, 1898. Library of Congress,
Washington, D.C. (Figure 1.1).
FIGURE 1.1
Question:
1. Describe what you see in this picture. What is this a picture of? Why do you think that?
1
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A Sharecropping Contract: 1882
Source: A sharecropping contract from 1882, from the collection of Grimes Family Papers held in the Southern
Historical Collection, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
To everyone renting land, the following conditions must be agreed to:
Every sharecropper must be responsible for all farming gear placed in his hands, and if not returned must be paid
for unless it is worn out by use.
Nothing can be sold from their (sharecroppers’) crops until my rent is all paid, and all amounts they owe me are
paid in full.
I am to gin & pack all of the cotton and charge every sharecropper an eighteenth of his part, the cropper to furnish
his part of the bagging, ties, & twine.
The sale of every sharecropper’s part of the cotton to be made by me when and where I choose to sell, and after
taking all they owe me.
For every 30 acres of land (rented by sharecroppers), I will provide a mule team, plow, and farming tools. The
sharecroppers can have half of the cotton, corn, peas, pumpkins, and potatoes they grow if the following conditions
are followed, but–if not–they are to have only two-fifths.
For every mule or horse furnished by me there must be 1000 good sized rails (logs) hauled, and the fence repaired
if I so direct. All sharecroppers must haul rails (logs) and work on the fence whenever I may order. The wood must
be split and the fence repaired before corn is planted. No cotton must be planted by sharecroppers on their home
patches of land. No sharecropper is to work off the plantation when there is any work for them to do for me.
Questions:
Sourcing: When and where was this contract written?
What did the sharecropper have to do in order to use the plantation owner’s land, farming tools, and mules?
Do you think this is a fair contract? Why or Why not?
Close Reading: What parts of this contract do you think caused the sharecroppers to be in debt to plantation
owners?
5. Does this contract seem more or less extreme than the impression you had of sharecropping after you read the
textbook? Explain.
1.
2.
3.
4.
References
1. . http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/I?fsaall,brum,detr,swann,look,gottscho,pan,horyd,genthe,var,cai,cd,hh,ya
n,lomax,ils,prok,brhc,nclc,matpc,iucpub,tgmi,lamb,hec,krb,:1:./temp/~pp_Pze1::displayType=1:m856sd=cph:m
856sf=3g07992:@@@mdb=fsaall,brum,detr,swann,look,gottscho,pan,horyd,genthe,var,cai,cd,hh,yan,lomax,i
ls,prok,brhc,nclc,matpc,iucpub,tgmi,lamb,hec,krb . Public Domain
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