What was sharecropping? How did it evolve into a method of controlling black labor?
What will be an ideal response?
Answer: The ideal answer should include:
1. Sharecropping was an alternative capital-labor relationship.
2. Black sharecroppers worked a piece of land for a fixed share of the crop, usually one-half.
3. Credit-starved landlords liked this arrangement because it did not require much expenditure before the harvest, and the tenant shared the risks of crop failure or a fall in cotton prices.
4. African Americans initially viewed sharecropping as a step toward landownership.
5. In the 1870s, it evolved into a new kind of servitude.
6. Sharecroppers had to live on credit until their cotton was sold, and planters and merchants
supplied their needs at high prices and exorbitant interest.
7. This left most sharecroppers with no net profit at the end of the year—and often with a debt they had to work off in subsequent years.
You might also like to view...
The Compromise of 1850:
A. Completely rejected the idea of popular sovereignty B. Included a stronger fugitive slave law C. Abolished both slavery and the slave trade in the District of Columbia D. Angered Northerners by acknowledging the boundary claims made by Texas
Who crossed the Alps and invaded Italy with an army of elephants during the Second Punic War?
A) Augustus B) Hannibal C) Cicero D) Julius Caesar
"Jeremiads" were
A. a measurement of wealth. B. town meetings. C. sermons. D. community experiments. E. witchcraft.
Ricci's most influential publication in Chinese was
a. Chinese Scholar. b. Western Scholar. c. Divine Faith. d. The Great Encounter and the West. e. The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven.