HIST 2057 Chapter : The New South
Document Summary
The new south, 1865-1890: sharecroppers, tenants, renters, and landlords. The landowners always maintained majority of the share. Tenant farming would work a landowner"s plantation for a set amount. Landowner"s didn"t favor tenant farming arrangements, because even if it was a bad season for crops they still had to pay the farmer a set amount. The ideal situation for a freed slave would be going into a rental. The freed slave could dictate when the crop is harvested, what type of crop to grow. Sharecroppers and tenants didn"t have opportunity to choose what they grow or when to harvest it. Many freed slaves didn"t own property, so they have to rely on the landowner or a local merchant. They didn"t have capital so they had to pay with credit. Many couldn"t pay off their debts so they were arrested and sent off to jail, and used as convict labor. The south needed to grow more crops and build industry.
