The Sharecroppers Union, also known as the Southern Tenant Farmers Union (STFU), was a labor union that existed in the United States during the 1930s. The union represented sharecroppers, who were farmers who did not own the land they worked on, but instead rented it from landlords and gave them a portion of their crops as rent. The union was formed in 1934 by a group of sharecroppers in Arkansas, and it quickly spread to other states in the South. One of the main goals of the Sharecroppers Union was to improve the living and working conditions of sharecroppers.
Critical Race Lens on “McFarland USA” The critical race theory examines how racism affects the society, law, social structure and economy of a state. It is based on five basic tenets: everyday racism, interest convergence, social construction of race, differential racialization, intersectionality, and voice of color. The movie “McFarland USA”, directed by Niki Caro, is a true-story that is primarily based on a poor Mexican community in California where Coach White, a white American coach, develops a cross-country team.
The soil was rich, fertile and perfect for crops. The weather was relatively warm year-round and the land was screaming to be used for agriculture. There were rivers readily available for the transportation of any crops that the settlers might want to export. As a result of this near-perfect farm land, the Southern colonies developed into a region dominated by agriculture. Huge tobacco and crop plantations arose and suddenly, a massive need for labor arose.
The time after the Civil War is known as Reconstruction, a time period where America was trying to rebuild the country after the harsh ending of the war. Thousands of slaves had been released, searching for jobs and new opportunities, and many southerners were against the changes being made. The goal of Reconstruction was to have the country rebuilt and to establish unity, however that was not the case. Reconstruction did not provide freedom for African Americans due to the amount of racism prevailing in the country, political tensions, and the inability to work for themselves. Racism had been an ongoing issue within the south, even though it had only a small contribution to the Civil War.
So the sharecropper is living in and circling debt for the rest of their lives unless they get enough money. This shows how reconstruction failed because the sharecroppers were mostly African Americans because they just came out of slavery. The government told them that they should still work from the landowners but get paid. The landowners are doing sharecropping which is just slavery under a different
With all the laws, taxes and codes that the blacks had to follow, owning land was unrealistic for many. Blacks turned to a cheaper alternative, renting. Unfortunately, this also had its downfalls, such as the lack of white landowners willing to rent to blacks. This led to a system called sharecropping. Sharecropping was an arrangement between white landowners and free blacks, the landowner would provide goods like food and seeds and the blacks would farm and use a portion of their crop as a payment to the landowners.
To keep this from happening farmers made the sharecroppers indebted to them keeping the sharecroppers from having any money to support themselves. As stated, sharecropping had drastic effects on the relationship between black people and white people. Examples of this are shown when the article states: “Well, I’ve had so much trouble with these black people, I’m going to employ white people” (Painter para. 13) Additionally, the overall actions between black and white people rose wages (Painter para.
Sharecropping was a big aspect where landowners would lend a piece of their land to tenants, and in return they would receive some of the crops from their land. Also, “carpetbaggers” were people who came into the South during the Reconstruction period and were thought to be people who wanted to take advantage of the defeated South by the Republican Party. They played an extremely important role in fixing the South in many aspects. Segregation was also coming into play at this time, because White did not want to give up anything to colored people. Whites wanted a place for themselves and to be separate from the rest of the race, of course this was difficult because they lived in one whole country.
America during the 1900s was scarce of money and the system of sharecropping helped build up the economy. (“Sharecropping, Black Land Acquisition, and White Supremacy (1868-1900)”) Sharecropping still occurs in modern-day America but the system is different. Nowadays, people are allowed to rent land and can keep all the profits without giving the money to the landowner. (“Sharecropping in Mississippi | American Experience | PBS”)
Sharecropping was similar to slavery because the freedman grew cotton for their masters and earned no money because they owed their masters to much for the clothes and tools they needed. Even though they were making money from their crops, they were in debt to their former masters their whole lives so the sharecroppers could never move. This decreased the grade dramatically. Also, the Black Codes and Jim Crow laws are another example of how the South went back to the way it was. Another example was the Black Codes.
Southern people needed slaves for work outdoors, such as farming and blacksmithing. Slaves worked hard long hours in all types of weather conditions,
At the beginning of the book “Of Mice and Men”, when John Steinbeck (the narrator) writes, “They had walked in single file down the path, and even in the open one stayed behind the other; both were dressed in denim trousers and in denim coats with brass buttons. Both wore black, shapeless hats and both carried tight blanket rolls slung over their shoulders”, he introduces us to Lennie and George, we as readers know right away that there is an inequality between the two men: one man is walking behind another. Furthermore, the two men are dressed identically. It is perhaps a way to point up the idea that inequality will always be part of a relationship, but we should try to make the relationship as equal as possible. Of Mice and Men is a novel that tells the story of two migrant ranch workers George Milton and Lennie Small who move from town to town in California in search of job opportunities, with the dream of one day having a ranch of their own.
Enslaved workers increased in the colonies because they were cheap to get in all you had to give them was give them a rag and they did the hard labor for you, and you made a
One could tell that their backgrounds helped shape their answers because they differed greatly. For Nelson, a change in his Foodways happened when he came to America. Women in his country would traditionally make the food because of gender norms. Since coming to America, he and his wife have shared this responsibility. In America, we have followed similar gender norms when
The men of the townships would travel to find work in urban areas. Most would only come home with a two day/week salary. This was because they often could not get to work because the busses were too full or they were told they were not needed to come in for work. Women in the townships
