Sharecropper is a term of derision to many. I admire sharecroppers, of old or of current times.
Why? Because they made (and make) the best of opportunity.
Suppose it is 1870. You are a black couple in rural Georgia. You have no land and no money. You have only your muscles and your brain and the lessons life has taught you.
Suppose a white landowner, also with no or little money, offers you a deal. He will supply you some acres of tillable land and a dwelling, call it a shack or a cabin, to live in and on which to grow cotton or corn or both, and a vegetable garden, and a mule (perhaps two if you work sufficient acres) to work the acres with, and the seeds to plant the crop or crops. You will prepare the land for the crop, plant the seeds, weed the crop, then harvest it. The harvested crop(s) will be sold or stored for winter feed. You and the landowner will agree on the split of the profit or the crop in kind.
If your landowner is honest and fair and you are a diligent worker, and the the weather and prices cooperate, you may be able to better your lot and your landlord’s. Folklore is filled with stories, some no doubt true, of sharecroppers cheated and abused by unscrupulous landlords, but the natural incentive for a land owner was and is to set his terms for a win-win, for only a successful sharecropper can over time produce good crops and reasonable profits for his landowner and survival for himself and his family.
Hard work for fair reward was and is the successful sharecropping formula. George D. Moreland, Sr. of Leesburg, Georgia, who commenced work as a penniless sharecropper for a foreclosing bank in the early 1920s and left his wife and children 8,000 debt-free acres of crop and timberland on his death from an auto accident in 1951, did so through the sharecropping system. At first he was a cropper, then a landowner. He was known for treating his sharecroppers fairly and for smarts, diligence and good citizenship. He is remembered too for producing outstanding descendants, including son Big George, Grandson Bubba, and three memorable and accomplished daughters. This year’s Purina All-Age Handler of the Year award winner, Mark McLean, is also a descendant.
The photo is of George Moreland, Sr. and his wife.