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SHARECROPPERS
by Archie
P. McDonald, PhD | |
"Sharecropper,"
and sometimes just "Ocropper,ı" is not a happy term in the language
and literature of East Texas or the South. It identifies persons who were perpetually
poor, sometimes illiterate, always at the bottom of the socio-economic scale.
That wasnıt always the case. Before the Civil War, most people who worked
the land, and that was most of the people, worked land they owned. That was especially
true in East Texas because of generous land grants from the Mexican government,
the Republic of Texas, and even after statehood. An immigrant in Mexican Texas
received a labor, or 177 acres, if a farmer, and a league, or 4400 acres, if a
stock raiser. Those who came to Texas during its Revolution received a headright
of 640 acres just for arriving, plus 320 acres for each three-monthıs service
in the army. Many additional acres were shed by the government in payment of debts
and as a reward for immigration until the Civil War.
The war changed
many things, among them, who owned what. Many Texans never returned from the war,
some killed, some relocated to other states or nations. Their land was sold for
taxes, and so was the land of some who returned without funds to pay their taxes.
By the 1870s, as many as 70 percent worked land they did not own. They became
sharecroppers. This is how it worked: the land owner provided land for farming,
shelter for the farmer and his family, equipment such as mules, plows, seeds,
and, most importantly, credit for living expenses until the harvest. The sharecropper
provided his only resource, his labor. When they settled up, the landowner received
three-fourths of the yield and the sharecropper one fourth.
On its face,
this seems fair, considering the lopsided investment of the landowner. But the
sharecropper had to pay back the "credit" for his living expenses, and
most of the time this required all he had earned. Possibly, he owed even more.
This was easy to arrange by "fixing" the prices. So the sharecropper
had little choice but to remain on the place and do it all over again next year
and try to produce more so he could get out of debt, but nearly always finding
the same debt waiting at the end of the row. Development of oil, railroading,
and especially sawmilling industries provided some with an alternative, but then
they often found similar circumstances in the "company store" and salaries
paid in chit and script. What broke the system was World War II. Uncle Sam sent
millions an invitation to other duty they could not refuse; others made their
way to jobs in shipyards and other defense industries. After the war the G.I.
Bill provided previously unimagined educational opportunities. Once out of the
system, few went back.
All
Things Historical
May
26-June 1, 2002 column
A syndicated column in over 40 East Texas newspapers
(Archie McDonald is author of Pioneers, Poke Sallet and Politics with Bob
Bowman. It is available through the East Texas Historical Association, Nacogdoches)
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