ID: Tenant Farming
When: Late 19th Century, especially after the Civil War (1865)
Who:
- Former enslaved people: Seeking economic independence and land ownership, often faced limited opportunities and were forced to become tenants.
- White landowners: Many former plantation owners, seeking to maintain control over land and labor, transitioned to tenant farming systems.
What:
A system where farmers rented land from landowners, often with a sharecropping agreement. This system involved:
- Land rental: Tenants paid rent in cash or crops.
- Sharecropping: Tenants shared a portion of their crops with the landowner, often leading to debt cycles and limited economic mobility.
Impact: Why Significant?:
- Economic hardship for tenants: Tenant farmers often faced poverty, indebtedness, and limited opportunities for advancement.
- Social inequality: The system perpetuated racial and economic inequalities, trapping Black farmers in a cycle of dependence.
- Agricultural changes: Tenant farming led to a shift towards monocultures and a decline in diversified farming practices.
- Rise of agricultural corporations: Large landowners and corporations increasingly profited from the labor of tenant farmers.
- Rural poverty and migration: The cycle of poverty and limited opportunities drove many rural residents to seek opportunities in cities and urban areas.
Tenant farming significantly shaped the economic and social landscape of the South after the Civil War, contributing to the rise of rural poverty and the ongoing struggle for racial equality.