Reconstruction Era of the United States and African American Community

A Sharecropping Contract was a contract between Thomas J. Ross, and the Freedmen. This contract was an agreement for Thomas J. Ross to allow the Freedmen to plant and raise crop on his plantation, so long as the workers followed certain rules and regulations. The background of the parties under the contract were the Freedmen’s desire to be independent from having to work under the authority of Whites, and planters’ desire to have disciplined labor working under them. The contracts intended audience was between planter and labor force. Within the contract, Thomas J. Ross agreed to provide the Freedmen labor workers and their families with provisions, and any expenses that were needed within the plantation, as well as any tools needed for work.

Following the Civil War, America was in shambles. There were many groups with strong, conflicting ideas of how things should be. However, most groups had one idea in common: reducing the rights of African Americans as much as possible. Freed slaves had very little freedom under the law, were treated like a lesser species by those around them, and faced dangerous environments everywhere they went. Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation may have legally freed slaves, but African Americans were barely more than paid slaves.

     Another important factor for the substandard conditions of sharecroppers was their significant lack of food. Having to survive off of low supplies of food is harmful to anyone, but to people who are lacking in so many other areas, it could be devastating. Sharecroppers everywhere were already being cheated of how much of the seasons harvest was actually theirs, in addition to the impractical rules of what they could and could not own while they lived on the landowners farm land. “Nutrition standards of sharecroppers were already low,” and these regulations increased them (Walker 37). Many sharecroppers across the south “were not even allowed to have gardens, cows, or chickens” (Walker 18). Most of the time, the only field crops that sharecroppers could have as their own food

The sharecroppers paid "rent" with a share of the crops that they raised, with roughly one-half of all they produced belonged to the white owner (Ransom and Sutch, 1977). The landowner also advanced money to the farmer to purchase seed and other necessary farming equipment. The problem was the sharecroppers rarely, if ever, made enough money from the sale of their crops to pay back their debt. This often led to what some called "debt peonage," and it effectively bound sharecroppers to the land, and the landowner (Bowles, 2011). This was a veiled form of slavery, much like convict leasing was.

After the slaves were freed in 1863, the South had to make changes to supply labor for the farming. Many shady practices by the white man occurred because of this. Sharecropping and crop liens were developed to keep the black man somewhat under their control. Since freed slaves had no money and no place to live, land holders would allow a tenant to live on their property and worked the land in exchange for a share of the crop produced, also known as sharecropping. The crop lien system was a developed to allow farmers to receive goods such as food, supplies, and seeds to be paid for after the crop was produced. This kept the black man and poor white farmers in a constant form of debt.

Women have been fighting for equality since the early 1700’s. Abigail Adams was one of the first advocates to bring up the topic in Massachusetts on March 31st. (5-1) Abigail writes a letter in response to her husband John Adams. In her letter she tells her husband to “Remember the ladies” when drawing a new federal government. Another case of equality came about in the early 1800’s with Deborah Sampson. Sampson pretended to be a man named Robert Shutlif and was shot twice in the Revolutionary War. (5-9) At the time of the Revolutionary War women were consider to be inferior to men. Even the first ladies had a number of privileges they could not receive because they were female. The Revolutionary War increased people 's attention to political things and made issues of liberty and equality very important. During the time of the Revolutionary War people began rethinking of the rules for society which also led to some reconsideration of the relationship between men and women. In the North, where states abolished slavery after the Revolution, black women attained rights to marry, to have custody of their children, and to own their own property. Only on paper they had the same rights as white women. In the Southern states, lawmakers continued to reject enslaved women these simple human rights. But even in the South, a larger number of freed black women enjoyed the same privileges under the law as white women.

From the start, the sharecropping system was easily abused by the white landowners because they used the blacks’ lack of education and illiteracy to deduct cash advances, which because of high interest and dishonest accounting, left the cropper with very little wages. Congress should have passed the Sharecropping Act of 1866 to improve labor conditions of the sharecroppers. It would state that former slaves could only work for a maximum of 10 hours a day (about 7:00am to 5:00pm) including a one hour break. Wages (a minimum of 20 cents per hour) of blacks would be more fair and equal to the wages of whites (about 24 cents per hour). Also, any former slave who worked on a plantation as a sharecropper would be a part of a system called “The Union Benefits”, which would be like a modern day welfare system that would provide food, housing, and education. Former slaves and their families would live in a confined area of land, in what would be similar to a motel today, with up to two black families per room. Each family would receive a portion of food in the morning before work, on the one hour break (if he/she worked), and at night after work. Black children would attend classes taught by black men and women who volunteer in the facility. All of this would enable the former slaves to have a well-balanced life, something they have been denied of for years. As part of the Sharecropping Act, if whites refused to pay blacks the proper wage or if whites forced blacks to work

The period following the Civil War was a period of profound change in the South and the North following the end of slavery. For former slaves were in a difficult position following the war they had received their freedom, but not much else. For the freedmen there was a brief belief that freedom would grant them everything that they needed to succeed. They wanted an equality of rights with whites. Frederick Douglass said that “Slavery is not abolished until the black man has the ballot” (Foner 89). African-Americans wanted these rights to guarantee their status as citizens who would not be dominated by their former Confederate neighbors. Former slaves as also wanted land to work on under their own terms. “To the former slaves, the war with

After the Civil War, African Americans were free but with no place to live in or to work at, they settled with their former ‘masters’. African Americans were technically free, but no one wanted to hire a colored man, so they were put on crop lien work contracts. These contracts allowed African Americans to work and gain a ‘share’ of the harvest. Sounds like a deal right? Wrong. At the end of the harvest a black man would receive his share but the

Through the era of reconstruction, the United States experienced a series of ups and downs within a political and social stance. After the Civil War, the goal of the U.S. was to integrate former slaves into the population. President Lincoln wanted to complete that goal but he was soon assassinated so President Johnson took over. Johnson had a completely different idea about reconstruction. He believed that the South didn’t have the right to succeed in the first place. Johnson then established new all white governments and many schools were produced to help educate whites and blacks. When black people thought about freedom, owning land was how they believed freedom was. Land was supposed to be divided to former slaves for them to own, but Johnson returned that land to its original owners. This created sharecropping. Sharecropping first started out as white farmers having blacks working for them to tend to their crops and they would take home a share of the crops. As more white farmers grew poor, they also participated in the sharecropping business. The republicans were not very happy

Women continued to battle for equal rights, one being Miss Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Throughout the document Elizabeth makes herself very clear about how women are treated. She continuously compares women to slaves. Indicating that the men in a household hold authority over the women he has married. Men knew that giving equality to a woman would change many things within the home. The men were alarmed that it would perhaps ruin the family relations, and concerned it will destroy their family as a whole. She made sure to indicate that a marriage should be equal in all aspects. It should benefit both the man and woman in arrangement. While speaking of separation, she mentions that if men and women would be in love within their marriage they will be happy. They will grow and prosper together, life will be shared with happiness and content. She implies that is how marriage should be. It must not be controlling, a woman should not feel owned, she should feel loved. Stanton believed individual freedom will be better obtained with women having the capability and opportunity to choose, even in a

In the “Pennsylvania Walking Purchase” the Penns acquired the land to pursue peace among the settlers and the Native Americans and ultimately profit for themselves. Penn was willed the land by his father, Sir William Penn, before he died. However, the land was never surveyed or officially placed in William Penns name so it became chaos for him and his heirs. Penn had ideas on how he wanted to govern the land but ran into issues along the way. When Penns sons received the land, they were already cash poor causing them to cheat and to steal what was not theirs. Penns sons hired men to cover the distance of the land so they could get clear title for it. With a clear title, Thomas and James could sell off the land however they deemed fit. Whereas

left them in peace, the way they were, instead of disturbing their land and precious resources,

The sharecropping system is the system where landowners allow a tenant to use the land in exchange for a share of the crop. The main purpose of the sharecropping system is to keep

To be honestly, I liked all the areas in this sharecropping system, in till the video mentioned that the owner or the store owner can charge any individual an irrational price for goods. I like that the workers got piece of the land for homes, the workers get to sell a 1/3 of the product, they get free tools and animals to help. So as the video hit 3:12 and says provide the workers with this “credit”, it becomes fishy. Like the video said, the worker could make a million dollars in the selling of cotton, yet they be in three million dollars in debt somehow at the end of the year. If I had to revise this act, I would do anyway from the credit system and make everything the same price. But when finishing the film, when the 1930’s came around