Sharecropping Label your Table of Contents accordingly Sharecropping Sharecropping Next, turn to page 60 and title your page Sharecropping. We will be taking notes on what sharecropping is and discuss it as a class

Contract System After the Civil War, plantation owners needed workers to grow their crops. African Americans signed a contract with any crop owner they wanted, but even the best contracts paid very little and many landowners cheated the workers. The Freedmen’s Bureau’s job was to help resolve contract issues between land owner and worker.

Sharecropping What is it? After the Civil War, Southern crop owners had farms that needed their crops to be grown. Without their own money and land, African Americans and poor whites would “rent” land and grow their own crops. At the end of a harvest, the crop grower (ex- slave or poor white) would have to give a share of their crop to the landowner as payment.

Sharecropping Many African Americans and poor whites couldn’t afford tools, food, clothing and housing, so the land owner would rent out the supplies to the worker at inflated (increased) prices. This would leave the worker in a constant state of debt or owing the land owner. Buddy Buzz Buddy Buzz: Do you think these systems were fair? Why or why not? Which system was better in your opinion? Why?

Clarifying/Making Connections Example: I will allow you to bake a cake at my house. In return, I will charge you to use my kitchen and tools and I’ll take ¾’s of your cake Example: I will allow you to cut hair in my salon. In return, I will charge you for the space you are using and I will take a profit of what you make. Create your own example of sharecropping!