Question

What were some of the drawbacks of being a sharecropper in the years after the Civil War?

Answer 1

Sharecropping is a risky venture for both the sharecropper and the farmer. Just to be clear, the large farmer leases some of his land on speculation to a smaller farmer in return for part of the potential profits after harvest. If it's a good crop, both do OK. If there's a crop failure, or the market is down come autumn, both are SOL. The sharecropper's farm was small enough that he couldn't possibly get rich, unless some miracle happened in the market, but he had all to lose. And farming has never been easy work.