a) Sharecropping

Sharecropping replaced slavery in the South, binding workers, many of whom were former slaves, to land they did not own. This system involved landowners allowing tenants to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced. While sharecropping initially provided freedmen with work and a place to live, it often resulted in a cycle of debt and economic dependency, mirroring some aspects of slavery. This system became a dominant form of agricultural labor in the post-Civil War South and significantly shaped the region’s social and economic landscape.