🔺 Reconstruction in Economics and Society Day 129

Reconstruction in Economics and Society - Day 129

Introduction

The South's economy was in ruins after the Civil War. It had been physically destroyed because most of the fighting took place in the South. Plantation and farm owners could no longer rely on free labor to help bring in the crops. Most had to rely on their own skills to find jobs. 

As you learned in the video from our last lesson, sharecropping became an important part of southern society. Under this system, the land owner would allow the former slaves to live on his land in exchange for working the land. The former slaves worked the land and could keep some of the profits from farming.

Task Icon Reconstruction in Economics and Society - Sharecropping

Today, we will watch another video. This video focuses on the work of the Freedmen's Bureau. As you watch the video, use your journal and write down what you think in response to the following questions:

  1. What was sharecropping?
  2. What do you think life was like for a sharecropper?
  3. Why did people choose to become sharecroppers?

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