The term Bourbon is used to refer to the rich politicians during the nineteenth century who refused to accept the ideals instituted after the reconstruction, such as the abolishment of slaves and the slave trade. <em>Sharecropping was an idea brought up by landowners where they leased their lands to farmers who agreed to give them a share from the proceeds of their cash crops. </em>The share was most times half of the money realized from the sale of their crops. <em>Debt Peonage was an effect of the sharecropping system where the farmers fell into a routine of borrowing the tools needed for the farming (usually from the rich bourbons), owing them because there was a lot to pay back, and remaining in perpetual poverty. </em>
With all the monies gathered from the farmers through their shares from sharecropping and lending tools to the farmers, the rich were able to remain in control of things for a long while.
