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. Sharecropping was a difficult and often exploitative system, in which sharecroppers were often paid very little and had little control over their own lives. The union fought for better wages, better housing, and more autonomy for sharecroppers. They also
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Many of the union's members were African American, and they faced significant discrimination and racism. The union worked to fight against this discrimination and to promote racial equality. They also worked to improve the lives of all poor farmers, regardless of their race.
The Sharecroppers Union faced significant opposition from landlords, who saw the union as a threat to their power and profits. The union was also opposed by many politicians, who saw it as a radical and dangerous organization. Despite this opposition, the union was able to make some significant gains, including higher wages and better working conditions for sharecroppers.
However, the Sharecroppers Union ultimately failed to achieve its goal of improving the lives of sharecroppers on a large scale. The union was dissolved in the 1940s, and many of its members returned to the exploitative conditions they had been fighting against. However, the legacy of the Sharecroppers Union lives on, as it served as an important example of the struggles of poor farmers and the power of organized