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Sharecropping

Definition

This was an agricultural system that emerged after the Civil War, where landowners allowed tenants to use their land in exchange for a share of the crops produced.

Related terms

Tenant Farming: An agricultural production system where landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management while tenants contribute their labor along with at times varying amounts of capital and management.

Crop Lien System: A credit system used by farmers to buy supplies against future crop yields as collateral.

Freedmen's Bureau: A U.S. federal government agency established in 1865 to aid freed slaves (freedmen) in the South during the Reconstruction era.

"Sharecropping" appears in:

Study guides (2)

AP US History - 5.11 Failure of Reconstruction
AP US History - 6.4 The "New South"

Practice Questions (6)

What was one key distinction between how sharecropping and tenant farming impacted African Americans during Reconstruction?
What aspect of Sharecropping during Reconstruction aligns with elements of modern day prison labor systems?
How did sharecropping contribute to the failure of Reconstruction?
Why was sharecropping a systemically oppressive structure against African Americans in the “New South”?
How might history differ if sharecropping was banned post-Civil War?
How might Southern agricultural economies have evolved differently if sharecropping hadn't become commonplace after the Civil War?

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