Why was sharecropping so common among the poor?
1 Answer
It was the only way that many of them could survive.
Explanation:
First of all, you need to understand what sharecropping was. Sharecropping was a system in which 1. I could lease my land out to tenant farmers who could farm the land. 2. In return for the land, the tenant farmers would have to provide me with some the crops that they grew.
This was the only system that the poor could resort to because they did not have enough money to purchase their own farm and cultivate crops. They were forced to rent and farm small pieces of land and farm them for a living.
However, the sharecropping system was not fair to the poor. Take a look at this diagram to see why.
This shows you why although the sharecropping system was unjust, people had to stay with it. You were caught up in the system for so long that once you entered it, there was no turning back.
