This is a typical contractual agreement between a landowner and sharecropper. The system ensured that the sharecropper remained poor and in debt to the owner and therefore might never become an independent farmer.
To every one applying to rent land upon shares, the following conditions must be read, and agreed to.
To every 30 and 35 acres, I agree to furnish the team, plow, and farming implements, except cotton planters, and I do not agree to furnish a cart to every cropper. The croppers are to have half of the cotton, corn, and fodder (and peas and pumpkins and potatoes if any are planted) if the following conditions are complied with, but-if not-they are to have only two-fifths (2/5). Croppers are to have no part or interest in the cotton seed raised from the crop planted and worked by them. No vine crops of any description, that is, no watermelons, muskmelons, . . . squashes or anything of that kind, except peas and pumpkins, and potatoes, are to be planted in the cotton or corn. All must work under my direction. All plantation work to be done by the croppers. My part of the crop to be housed by them, and the fodder and oats to be hauled and put in the house. All the cotton must be topped about 1st August. If any cropper fails from any cause to save all the fodder from his crop, I am to have enough fodder to make it equal to one-half of the whole if the whole amount of fodder had been saved.
For every mule or horse furnished by me there must be 1000 good sized rails. . . hauled, and the fence repaired as far as they will go, the fence to be torn down and put up from the bottom if I so direct. All croppers to haul rails and work on fence whenever I may order. Rails to be split when I may say. Each cropper to clean out every ditch in his crop, and where a ditch runs between two croppers, the cleaning out of that ditch is to be divided equally between them. Every ditch bank in the crop must be shrubbed down and cleaned off before the crop is planted and must be cut down every time the land is worked with his hoe and when the crop is "laid by," the ditch banks must be left clean of bushes, weeds, and seeds. The cleaning out of all ditches must be done by the first of October. The rails must be split and the fence repaired before corn is planted.
Each cropper must keep in good repair all bridges in his crop or over ditches that he has to clean out and when a bridge needs repairing that is outside of all their crops, then any one that I call on must repair it.
Fence jams to be done as ditch banks. If any cotton is planted on the land outside of the plantation fence, I am to have three-fourths of all the cotton made in those patches, that is to say, no cotton must be planted by croppers in their home patches.
All croppers must clean out stable and fill them with straw, and haul straw in front of stable whenever I direct. All the cotton must be manured, and enough fertilizer must be brought to manure each crop highly, the croppers to pay for one-half of all manure bought, the quantity to be purchased for each crop must be left to me.
No cropper is to work off the plantation when there is any work to be done on the land he has rented, or when his work is needed by me or other croppers. Trees to be cut down on Orchard, house field, & Evanson fences, leaving such as I may designate.
Road field is to be planted from the very edge of the ditch to the fence, and all the land to be planted close up to the ditches and fences. No stock of any kind belonging to croppers to run in the plantation after crops are gathered.
If the fence should be blown down, or if trees should fall on the fence outside of the land planted by any of the croppers, any one or all that I may call upon must put it up and repair it. Every cropper must feed or have fed, the team he works, Saturday nights, Sundays, and every morning before going to work, beginning to feed his team (morning, noon, and night every day in the week) on the day he rents and feeding it to including the 31st day of December. If any cropper shall from any cause fail to repair his fence as far as 1000 rails will go, or shall fail to clean out any part of his ditches, or shall fail to leave his ditch banks, any part of them, well shrubbed and clean when his crop is laid by, or shall fail to clean out stables, fill them up and haul straw in front of them whenever he is told, he shall have only two-fifths (2/5) of the cotton, corn, fodder, peas, and pumpkins made on the land he cultivates.
If any cropper shall fail to feed his team Saturday nights, all day Sunday and all the rest of the week, morning/noon, and night, for every time he so fails he must pay me five cents.
No corn or cotton stalks must be burned, but must be cut down, cut up and plowed in. Nothing must be burned off the land except when it is impossible to plow it in.
Every cropper must be responsible for all gear and farming implements placed in his hands, and if not returned must be paid for unless it is worn out by use.
Croppers must sow & plow in oats and haul them to the crib, but must have no part of them. Nothing to be sold from their crops, nor fodder nor corn to be carried out of the fields until my rent is all paid, and all amounts they owe me and for which I am responsible are paid in full.
I am to gin & pack all the cotton and charge every cropper an eighteenth of his part, the cropper to furnish his part of the bagging, ties, & twine.
The sale of every cropper's part of the cotton to be made by me when and where I choose to sell, and after deducting all they owe me and all sums that I may be responsible for on their accounts, to pay them their half of the net proceeds. Work of every description, particularly the work on fences and ditches, to be done to my satisfaction, and must be done over until I am satisfied that it is done as it should be.
No wood to burn, nor light wood, nor poles, nor timber for boards, nor wood for any purpose whatever must be gotten above the house occupied by Henry Beasley-nor must any trees be cut down nor any wood used for any purpose, except for firewood, without my permission.
Document Analysis
According to this contract, what are the responsibilities of the sharecropper?
According to this contract, what are the responsibilities of the landowner?
What do you foresee will happen ten years after the sharecropper signs this contract? If the sharecropper fails, what options does he or she have? What options does the landowner have?
1. According to this contract, what are the responsibilities of the sharecropper? The sharecroppers must plant the crops but not take any interest in them. They must take care of the ditches, making sure that it's clean for the crops. They can't work off the plantation when there is work to be done on the land that he or she has rented or if the landowner needs him or her. He or she also has to feed his or her team morning, noon, and night everyday.
2. According to this contract, what are the responsibilities of the landowner? The landowner must gin & pack all the cotton and charge every cropper an eighteenth of his part. The landowner must also furnish the team, plow, and farming implements. He doesn't have to furnish a cart to every cropper. He gets three-fourths of all the cotton made in those patches if cotton is planted outside the plantation fences. He also will get 5 cents if a cropper doesn't feed their team.
3.What do you foresee will happen ten years after the sharecropper signs this contract? If the sharecropper fails, what options does he or she have? What options does the landowner have? Ten years after the sharecropper signs this contract, he or she will get tired of being in debt and try to revolt or refuse to do work. If the sharecropper fails there is not many options at all. They will probably be in so much debt they cannot be an independent farmer. The landowner can fire the cropper or keep taking their money and labor.
1. The sharecropper, according to this contract, must plant crops, take care of the ditches, must do their work off of the land they rented, and must feed their team three times a day.
2. The landowner must pack all of the cotton after it is ginned, charge each and every cropper an eighteenth, furnish the team, but he doesnt have to furnish a cart to every single cropper.
3. I think that since it is unlikely this will produce a lot of money for the sharecropper quickly, that they will quit. Most people probably wanted to make their money fast, so if it didn;t seem to be working for them, they probably found other work elsewhere. If the sharecropper doesn;t seem to be working, the landowner can fire the sharecropper.
According to this contract, what are the responsibilities of the sharecropper?
The sharecroppers responsibilities are to plant the crops and tend the fields under the direction of the landowner, must keep in good repair all bridges in his crop or over ditches that he has to clean out, All croppers must clean out stable and fill them with straw, and haul straw in front of stable whenever I direct., repair or rebuild any fences or structures blown down, feed his team, sow & plow in oats and haul them to the crib, and after all this sell their wares at market after paying the landowner his share of the profit. Basically it was a new form of slavery with equally backbreaking work and little freedom gained from the Old slave system that was under a new name.
According to this contract, what are the responsibilities of the landowner?
The responsibilities of the landowner are to provide the land, team, plow, and farming implements.
What do you foresee will happen ten years after the sharecropper signs this contract? If the sharecropper fails, what options does he or she have? What options does the landowner have?
After ten years of abiding by the contract the sharecropper, if he made enough money (which under the terms of the contract was unlikely) he could take his family and either find a new line of work elsewhere or if he did really well perhaps he could buy a portion of land to farm along with his family (possibly a few workers) or any friends who were willing to help. Unfortunately, this system was not established to make share croppers wealthy (at times it had an opposite result) and thus the sharecropper his family and team were usually stuck to till the land just as their ancestors had done only this time held back not by chains but by the almighty dollar. As I said, the system was not designed for the financial welfare of sharecroppers and if they failed to do their job then, having little or no financial stability, could be tossed off the land to make way for another more profitable planter(as was an option that the landowners practiced) leaving them starving for work, money, and above all food. As the Gov. did not protect people in situations like this as they do today, they pretty much had to fight to survive.
The sharecropper responsibilities are: to repair his fence as far as 1000 rails will go, clean out any part of his ditches, keep his ditch banks, well shrubbed and clean when his crop is laid by, clean out stables and fill them up and haul straw in front of them whenever he is told, feed the team he works, to take care of all gear and farm implements that are in his hands, and to do all work on the land that is rented first before leaving to do other work elsewhere or on his own land.
The landowners responsibilities are: to furnish the team, plow, and farming implements, to gin and pack all cotton and charge every cropper an 18th of his part, and to manage all his land.
Ten years from when the contract is signed I see a dissatisfied sharecropper who is hardly better off from when he started, doing all this work day in and day out under strict and unfair scrutiny.If the sharecropper does fail he has little choice but to keep working to make up for his failure or if he is desperate enough run away and try to find better work somewhere else.The landowner can lighten up on the sharecropper, continue with his same old practices, have the sharecropper punished legally, or he can blackmail him to do something that wasnt in the contract.
1.According to the contract, what are the responsibilities of the sharecropper?
According to the contract the sharecropper has many responsibilities.The sharecropper must haul rails and repair his fence as far as 1000 rails will go, he must also clean out his ditches and leave the ditch banks well scrubbed and clean.The sharecropper is also responsible for cleaning out stables and filling them with straw, hauling the straw in front of the stable, and for feeding his team.The sharecropper also must plant his crop, keep the cotton manured, sow and plow oats and haul them to the crib.In addition to all of these outlined duties the sharecropper must do other tasks that the landowner assigns to him/her.
2.According to the contract, what are the responsibilities of thelandowner?
The landowner is to furnish the team, plow and farming equipment for every 30 to 35 acres.He is to direct all of the work activities of the sharecroppers and to gin and pack all of the cotton of every cropper.The landowner is responsible for the sale of the cotton when and where he chooses to sell it. He is responsible for calculating the share of the profit that will be paid to the sharecropper.The landowner will oversee all of the work on his land by the sharecropper and be sure that the work is completed to his satisfaction.
3.What do you foresee will happen ten years after the sharecropper signs this contract?If the sharecropper fails, what options does he or she have?What options does the landowner have?
Ten years after signing this contract the sharecropper will not be in a much better financial position than he or she was before signing on to be a sharecropper.They will be in debt to the landowner and unhappy with their status. They may join with other sharecroppers and revolt. If the sharecropper fails he/she could break the contract by leaving the land but they would not have anything to move to.This type of a contract and this type of a system was meant to tie the sharecropper to the land and a way for the landowner to have cheap labor.The landowner can break the contract at any time if he feels that the sharecropper is not living up to the expectations of the contract.The landowner can continue to add additional duties to the sharecropper by having the sharecroppers complete whatever tasks that the landowner wants done because the contract states that the sharecropper must complete work of every description and that the work must be done to the satisfaction of the landowner.
1. The share croppers responsibilities included, feeding the team he works, planting crops, haul rails and repair the fence as far as 1,000 rails will go. They must also take care of his ditch's (cleaning them out), clean out the stables and fill them with straw and sow & plow in oats and haul them to the crib, and manure the cotton. He must do jobs his land owner tells him to do.Then when all this is done the share cropper my take his half of the profit.
2. The land owner's responsibilities included, furnishing the team, provide , farming tools for every 30 to 35 acres pack all of the cotton after it is ginned. He is also responsible for the sale of the cotton, caculate all the profits and the salary of the share croppers and to watch over the share croppers.
3 More than likly in 10 years after the share cropper signs this form he will not be in any better position than he started. Most share croppers do not make enough to live off of considering the work they do and the money they make. If a share cropper fails he falls into debt to the land owner and risks the chance of being fired in which the land owner takes the share croppers money.
According to this contract, what are the responsibilities of the sharecropper?
-The responsibilities of the sharecropper are to maintain a fence, build and maintain ditches with bridges over them, as well as haul hay whenever the owner wants it to be done. Also they arent allowed to leave the land while there is still work to be done there.
2.According to this contract, what are the responsibilities of the landowner?
-The owners responsibilities are to supply the team and plow for every 30-35 acres. They also supply all of the farming implements as well as distribute back the sharecroppers share of the crop.
What do you foresee will happen ten years after the sharecropper signs this contract? If the sharecropper fails, what options does he or she have? What options does the landowner have?
- In 10 years the sharecropper may still be involved in the same cycle they are involved in now. There is only a small percentage of people who were even successful at sharecropping. If they fail there isnt much left for them to do. The landowners have other options because they have some sort of money to fall back on.
1. They have to plant crops. Do work on their land before going somewhere else to do the work there. Take care of ditches. Feed his team 3 meals everyday.
2. Pack all the cotton. Furnish the team. Charge every cropper an 18th of his part. He does not have to furnish a cart to every cropper.
3. In ten years I think that the sharecropper will try and earn enough money to pay off his debts. If he fails I think he will stop doing his work. The landowner can fire him.
1. According to this contract, what are the responsibilities of the sharecropper?
The sharecropper must repaire any fences that may need repairing, clean out any and all ditches, clean out stables and fill them with straw, manure each crop, and sow, plow, and haul oats. The sharecropper mst also give most of their profits to their landowner.
2. According to this contract, what are the responsibilities of the landowner?
The landowner must pack all of the cotton and charge every cropper an 18th of his part.
3. What do you foresee will happen ten years after the sharecropper signs this contract? If the sharecropper fails, what options does he or she have? What options does the landowner have?
Most likely the sharecropper will still be in debt and if they fail, they will probably have no option but to continue with their landowner of if they get fired then they will probably become homeless. The landowner has the option of keeping the sharecroppers to work for them longer or letting them go.
According to this contract, what are the responsibilities of the sharecropper?
According to the contract the sharecropper has many responsibilities. First off the sharecropper has to hand over any profits made to the landowner. The sharecropper also had to repair fences that were broken, fix ditches, manure each crop, clean out stables, fix the straw inside them, plow and haul oats and the list goes on. 2. According to this contract, what are the responsibilities of the landowner? The landowner has only a few responsibilities he or she must supply the team and plow for every 30-35 acres. They supply all the tools need and they distribute the sharecroppers portion of the crop.
The landowner must pack all of the cotton and charge every cropper an 18th of his part.
3. What do you foresee will happen ten years after the sharecropper signs this contract? If the sharecropper fails, what options does he or she have? What options does the landowner have?
The sharecropping industry is a vicious cycle that is hard to break out of. From the means of this contract most likely the sharecropper will end up in debt in ten years. They will have to keep working for the landowner until he decides to let them go which could be never. The landowner has the decision of keeping the worker or letting he or she go to roam as he or she pleases.
