Mississippi River sharecroppers
Title |
Mississippi River sharecroppers |
Description |
Appears to be a family of four African Americans preparing to work. Most likely, they are sharecroppers. The three youngest children, two boys and a girl, are barefoot. The youngest, a girl, is holding a long hoe that outsizes her. Shabby buildings and a rickety fence are visible in the background. |
Historical note |
Following the abolition of slavery, many white planters/farmers still needed a labor force to harvest crops and raise livestock. Out of slavery there developed a system of agriculture called sharecropping, and it grew quickly during Reconstruction. Tenants (mostly black, but many poor whites) were allowed to farm their own small plots of land in exchange for a portion of their harvest. Oftentimes the small value of the crop did not cover the price of the rent. That way the tenant family not only made no profit, it was in debt to the farmer. The family never got ahead. Every season, they compounded their debt. Sharecropping became a form of perpetual slavery. |
Date |
approximately 1900-1912 |
Collection name |
Earl S. Miers River Photograph Collection |
Subjects |
Laborers African Americans Agricultural machinery & implements Agricultural laborers |
Accession number |
908 |
Owning Institution |
Tennessee State Library and Archives |
ID# |
32993 |
Negative number |
1909 |
Digital Type |
Still Image |
Digital Format |
Image/jp2 |
Media Type |
Photographs |
Copyright |
No copyright - United States: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ |
Ordering Information |
To order a digital reproduction of this item, please send our order form at http://tsla.tnsosfiles.com/general/forms/ImagingOrder.pdf to Photo Orders, Tennessee State Library & Archives, 403 7th Ave. N., Nashville, TN 37243-0312, or email to photoorders.tsla@tn.gov. Further ordering information can be found at the following location: http://sos.tn.gov/products/tsla/ordering-images-and-microfilm-digitization . |
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