Sharecropping and Tenant Farming

       After the Civil War, land owners and farmers needed workers to farm their land. Many former slaves and poor whites needed jobs. Workers who had no jobs, tools, or supplies started sharecropping. Under sharecropping, the landowners provided land, a house, farming tools and animals, seed, and fertilizer. The workers agreed to give the owner a share of the crops. Until the workers sold their crop, the owners often let them purchase food, medicine, clothing, and other supplies at high prices on credit. Credit is the ability to buy something now and pay for it later or over a period of time. After selling the crop and paying the credit bills, most sharecroppers had little to no cash left. Because few sharecroppers could read or do math, the land owner or the store owner could easily cheat them, and many did. Year after year, sharecroppers were in debt (owed more money than they could earn). They had little hope they could ever save enough to buy their own land and equipment.

Sharecroppers

Tenant farming was very similar to sharecropping. The main difference was that tenant farmers usually owned some farming equipment and farm animals, such as mules. They also bought their own seed and fertilizer. At the end of the year, tenant farmers either paid the landowner a set amount of cash or a share of their harvest. Because tenant farmers owned more than sharecroppers, they usually made a small profit. However, the lives of both groups were very hard. The tenant farming and sharecropping systems allowed landowners to keep their farms running without having to spend money for workers. At the end of Reconstruction, cotton was again the most important crop grown in most of Georgia. However, the coastal region never again produced the same amount of cotton or rice.

Reconstruction

        After the Civil War, the government had to decide what to do with the states that had seceded. President Lincoln wanted to rebuild the South instead of punishing it. Sadly, Lincoln was killed before the United States was healed. Reconstruction in Georgia was a time of big changes after the Civil War. Reconstruction lasted for a short period of time (1865-1872), but its impact on Georgia lasts even today. Three different plans were used to rebuild the South.  

       The first plan was called Presidential Reconstruction. During this plan, President Johnson, a southerner, was not very harsh on the southern states. His plan, based on Abraham Lincoln's, allowed the South into the Union if 10 percent of the people swore an oath of allegiance to the United States. They also had to ratify (approve) the 13th amendment, which ended slavery in the United States. Georgia rewrote its constitution in order to reject Secession and pass the 13th amendment. Georgia was allowed back into the Union in December of 1865. This was only for a short time. Trouble began when several former confederate leaders were elected. Northern senators, called Radical Republicans, wanted to punish the south for this.

Freed man

             Also, the Radical Republicans were horrified at the South’s treatment of the freedmen under Black Codes. Under these laws, black people were not allow to vote, testify against whites in court, and could not serve as jurors. Because of the South’s treatment of black people, the Congress introduced the 14th amendment which made African-Americans citizens of the United States and gave them the same rights as all U.S. citizens. 

President Andrew Johnson

       The next plan was called Congressional Reconstruction. Georgia, and other southern states, would not ratify (approve) the 14th amendment. Because of this, Georgia and the rest of the South were kicked out of the United States and put under the control of Congress. Southern states had to pass this amendment in order to be allowed into the Union again. Racial violence had also increased in Georgia and the South. Congress decided that the army needed to be sent to the South in order to keep the peace. Congress lumped the South into five military districts. Georgia, Alabama, and Florida made up the third district. 

       The third plan was Military Reconstruction. While under military control, Georgia rewrote its constitution again. The new constitution included laws that protected black voting, public schools, and moving the capital to Atlanta. However, the military stayed in Georgia due to the violence of the Ku Klux Klan. Georgia also refused to pass the 15th amendment, which gave African-American men the right to vote. Georgia was finally allowed back into the Union in 1870 when black legislators (law makers) and Republicans voted for the acceptance of the 15th amendment.