Alabama tenant Farmers & Sharecroppers 1865 --Present Created by: Mrs. V. Looser Lanett High School, Lanett City Schools, Lanett, Alabama This lesson was created as a part of the Alabama History Education Initiative, funded by a generous grant from the Malone Family Foundation in 2009.

http://www. spendersworktown. boltonmuseums. org http://www.spendersworktown.boltonmuseums.org.uk/collections/local-history/slavery-and-bolton/cotton-is-king/

http://216. 226. 178. 196/cdm4/item_viewer. php http://216.226.178.196/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/photo&CISOPTR=3195&CISOBOX=1&REC=15

Picture Comparison What did you see in the first picture? What did you see in the second picture? Are there similarities? Are there differences ? What time period do you think they represent? How do you think that these photographs would compare with what you have read about slavery? Have the lives of African- Americans changed much since they were enslaved based upon these photos?

Alabama: 1865 Slaves were freed in July, 1865 by the proclamation of Governor Lewis E. Parsons Freed slaves left plantations to move to cities or to look for their family members Freedmen’s Bureau did not deliver “40 acres and a mule” Land values dropped Almost no farm income Landowners had no money to pay wages to freedmen or poor whites

Economic Dilemma Whites owned most of the land suitable for agriculture, but had no cash Freedmen would have to make up the farm work force Freedmen only had their ability to work Share-based system developed to revive the farm economy If a freedman only had his labor to offer, he typically got ⅓ of crop If he had animals and equipment, he typically got ½ of crop

Acceptance of system Poor whites had poverty level existence Freedmen had independence Planters got their land cultivated Whites continued to dominate Blacks http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1613

Levels of Sharecroppers Sharecroppers divided by ability to furnish supplies and amount of crop they could keep Cash renting was arrangement where rent was paid for use of the land http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1613

New Farm system Developed Many poor whites moved to farms in Tennessee Valley and Wiregrass areas Many Freedmen dominated farms in the Black Belt area http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1613

Tenant Farmer Arrangement Landowner provided: Land Seed, fertilizer Plow and animals Food and personal items (clothes, snuff, etc.) Commissary (store) provided supplies for mortgage (crop lien) on the crop to be harvested Average income: 65 cents per day If crop failed or was poor, debt was carried over to next year Result was debt peonage If a profit was made, animals and equipment were purchased to try to improve standard of living

Lifestyle of Tenant Farmer Homes: Log cabins or dog trot houses No indoor plumbing No windows or screens, only shutters Outdoor privies Water from wells or creeks http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1613

Lifestyle continued Diet: mainly cornbread, corn mush, fatback pork, molasses Vegetables only if owner allowed a garden on the land http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1613

Problems of tenant Farmers Poor transportation: few hard surface roads Poor diet Lack of sanitation Substandard housing Health problems Hookworms Rickets Pellagra http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1613

Boll Weevil Boll Weevil destroyed cotton crops in early 1900s Wiregrass area turned to peanut production Enterprise built statue to the boll weevil http://troymaxwell.com/?s=boll+weevil

Great Migration Large numbers of Blacks left the South to move North Blacks left to escape racial prejudice and Jim Crow Laws More job opportunities in the North http://www.daahp.wayne.edu/biographiesDisplay.php?id=57

Poor Whites Dominated system of tenant farming http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1613 http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1613 http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1613 Poor Whites Dominated system of tenant farming Plight of farmer made known by novels of William Faulkner Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee and Walker Evans http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1813

Depression Era Farms By 1930s: By 1954: Tenant Farmers-65% of all farmers in Alabama Sharecroppers: 39% of the tenant farmers By 1954: Tenant farmers-37% of all farmers in Alabama Sharecroppers-27% of the tenant farmers New Deal programs offered subsidies to landowners Subsidies were not shared with tenant farmers Many were forced off of the land Many were drafted into WWII military Many worked in military camps and industries

End of the Tenant Farmer Depression World War II Machinery replaced people Tractors Mechanical cotton picker replaced the hand picker One picker could pick 1000 more pounds of cotton in one hour than a human http://jddealer.deere.com/bartonag/

Tenant Farmers Today 2002 Alabama Census Data: 62,572 Farm operators 2,063 Tenants (3.3%) No Sharecroppers listed http://www.foodroutes.org/ffarticle.jsp?id=2

Bibliography Encyclopedia of Alabama Retrieved on July 10, 2009 at http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/fac e/Article.jsp?id=h-1613