Description
Photograph of a cotton field in Georgia. Several small wooden farm buildings stand behind the field.On the cotton lands of southwestern Georgia and the fringes of the Cotton Belt in the upper Piedmont, developed later, tenancy stood at about 30 percent before the Civil War. Unlike sharecroppers, who could only contribute their labor but had no legal claim to the land or crops they farmed, tenant farmers frequently owned plow animals, equipment, and supplies. Because farm credit was lacking in the South, landowners often provided food and other necessities, then deducted the cost from the workers' share of the harvested crops. Tenant farmers usually received between two-thirds and three-quarters of the harvest, less deductions for living expenses.
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