General Question

give_seek's avatar

How did sharecropping work?

Asked by give_seek (1425points) August 3rd, 2020

Hello everyone.
I’ve been doing research on sharecropping in the southern U.S. I’ve read LOTS of information, been to several websites, and watched documentaries. There’s so much information. But I’m still missing the specifics.

Does anyone know when the “tallies” were made and money (if any) was dolled out? For example, on a tobacco or cotton farm, were there daily tallies of weight and then payouts? Were accounts settled daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly?

So far, no one has been able to provide me with specifics. If you have them, please let me know. Thanks!

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4 Answers

janbb's avatar

I just did a short search and there are many good documentaries online with interviews from former share roppers. An article from the history.com site on Sharecropping statesthat the landlord got his share at the end of the year. You can find the full article online. I would explore further buy I’m on vacation.

LadyMarissa's avatar

My Gramps was a sharecropper. During the depression his brother-in-law allowed him to live on his property without paying any rent. In exchange my Gramps farmed the land just like it was his own, Every Saturday, his BIL came by & took his portion of the bounty. As far as other sharecroppers went, it was up to the agreement they had with the owner. Some collected daily, some weekly, some monthly. My Gramps BIL was too lazy to do the work himself & he didn’t trust any strangers to be honest. He was too lazy to collect daily & felt that monthly would be too far out as most of the produce would go bad.

give_seek's avatar

@janbb Thanks. I’ve been on the sites and watched the documentaries. Lots of great general information. I’m hoping for more specifics. If you come across anything, I’m grateful for the share.

give_seek's avatar

@LadyMarissa This is great information. Thank you for sharing it. I appreciate it. Be well.

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