After the end of the Civil War, sharecropping and tenant farming became a popular economic system in the South. The system helped large landowners who had once depended on slave labor to produce their crops but who could not afford to pay wages and taxes to still profit off their land. It also provided a way of survival for poor black and white farmers who did not own property. Tenant farmers usually came into an agreement with equipment and mules and were thus able to negotiate better terms. Sharecroppers were considered lowest on the economic ladder as they came with basically nothing but their ability to work.
My father, Pete Parker, grew up in a sharecropping family in South Carolina and I recently sat down and asked him to share a little about what that experience was like. Here is a video of that interview:
My dad’s story has always fascinated me. As he talks about in this video, he grew up in a sharecropping family and dropped out of school in the 8th grade to help on the farm. He eventually joined the Air Force, complete his GED, went to college, and then completed law school. He has run for the South Carolina legislature, been the South Carolina Consumer Affairs Advocate, and the Director of South Carolina Worker’s Compensation.
To find out more about sharecropping check out these links:
Sharecropping in the New Georgia Encyclopedia
Previous Generations of This Family Picked Cotton on This Property. Now, They’ve Reclaimed it.
I take it sharecropping no longer takes place. When and why did it start to die out?
Thank you for your comment! It actually had started to die out in the 1940s as farmers were able to use more machines for labor. I also believe that with the rise of the automobile giving people more mobility contributed.
I love history and this was a fun read. I come from a long line of ranchers and farmers and I knew about ranch hands and migrant workers but not a lot about sharecropping.
Thanks Pauline!
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