Sharecropping v Tenant Farming

​. . . the said Cooper Hughs Freedman with his wife and one other woman . . . are to work on said farm and to cultivate forty acres in corn and twenty acres in cotton . . . and to do all other work on said farm . . . and to receive for their said services one half of the cotton and one third of the corn and fodder raised by them on said farm in said year 1867 . . .

​During slavery, slaves worked in the field on plantations. When the slaves were freed, they were no longer required to work for their former masters. However, the landowners still needed workers to grow the crops and slaves still needed housing and a job.

​

Different systems were created to address these needs. One of these systems was called sharecropping. A family would become sharecroppers on a plantation owner’s land. They would work the land for the farmer by picking crops. For payment, they would get some of the crop at the end of the season. 

​

Landowners would often provide a house for the sharecroppers to live in, but the houses were poorly made. They were small, had leaks, and did not have running water or electricity.

​

In addition to the house, sharecroppers had to buy seeds, tools, farming equipment and animals, clothes, and food from the landowner on credit. Sharecroppers had no control over which crops were planted or how they were sold. After the harvest, the landowner sold the crops. The sharecropper would receive half of the earnings, minus what he borrowed from the landowner.

​Another system used to provide landowners with workers was tenant farming. Tenants rented the land and a house from the landowner and grew crops. The tenants provided the seeds, equipment, tools, and animals. They owned the crops they planted and made their own decisions about them.

After the harvest, the tenant sold the crops and received money. With this income, the tenant paid a set rent to the landowner for the land and the house. After paying rent, the tenant could make a profit.