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Why were many African American farmers caught in a condition debt peonage?
Wiki User
∙ 8y ago
They did not have enough money to pay for supplies from the company store.
Wiki User
∙ 8y ago
Wiki User
∙ 9y agoThere were several ways that African American farmers were caught in a condition of debt peonage during the Reconstruction period following the US Civil Was.
African American farmers could not afford to buy land of their own, so they agreed to farm another's land in exchange for a share of the crops (sharecropping). However, many sharecroppers were forced to buy seeds, tools, and other supplies from the landowner's store. Sharecroppers were often illiterate and had to depend on the accounting of the landowner and his staff and were kept in debt. The landowners also miscalculated the value of the crop, thus making the sharecropper unable to pay their debts to the landowner, merchants, and compnay stores.
Another way was to use the "Black Codes" and arrest any black man who was out of a job (or between jobs) or arrest them on trumped up charges. A white employer would then pay off their debts of the court costs and fines if the black man would agree to work for the employer to pay off the debt. Paperwork would be lost and they were trapped in debt peonage.
Wiki User
∙ 8y agoThey worked only for a share in the profits to be made by the owner of the lands of the sharecroppers. To be calculated, 'of course', after costs. The owner had no interest at all in showing a good net profit, since that would mean big pay-outs to the sharecroppers. And since he was keeping the books, it was fairly easy for him to calculate (or make reservations for) costs in such a way that the profit - and the pay-out - always was minimal.
Many owners kept their sharecroppers in a state of virtual slavery by putting them in debt to him: through bills run up in the store and saloon owned by the boss, by the rent he charged for their homes and by the money he asked for use of heavy equipment. In a 'bad' year, there simply would be no pay-out and income for the sharecroppers and the unpaid debts would pile up. And even if there finally was a good year, the owner could - and would - offset their pay-out against the money still owed to him.
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Why were many African Americans farmers caught in a condition of debt peonage?
They did not have enough money to pay for supplies from the company store.
What were the main cash crops in the south during reconstruction?
During Reconstruction, a new system of farming was developed. The neo-peonage method of using tenant farmers on farms came to be known as sharecropping. The economic devastation of the south led to most of the land being used for cash crops rather than subsistence farming. Cash crops were the traditional antebellum ones like tobacco, cotton, sugar and rice.
What was one reason for the founding the NAACP?
Some of the reasons for the founding of the NAACP were:The desire to oppose racismAfrican Americans' desire for more opportunitiesJim Crow lawsSegregation laws
Is involuntary servitude permitted in the US upon conviction of a crime?
Involuntary servitude is commonly known as slavery, but as Wikipedia defines it, involuntary servitude is "is a United States legal and constitutional term for a person laboring against that person's will to benefit another, under some form of coercion...involuntary servitude does not necessarily connote the complete lack of freedom experienced in chattel slavery..." In other words, it can be mandated community service or something similar. So, yes, it is permitted, but ONLY as punishment for crime. In depth explanation: "In 1865 Congress enacted thehttp://www.answers.com/topic/amendment-xiii-to-the-u-s-constitution, which the Union states ratified. Section 1 of the amendment provides that "[n]either slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." Section 2 gives Congress the authority to enforce the provisions of section 1. The Thirteenth Amendment makes involuntary servitude unlawful whether the compulsion is by a government or by a private person. The penalty for violation of the amendment must be prescribed by law. Although the principal purpose of the amendment was to abolish African slavery, it also abolished other forms of compulsory labor similar to slavery, no matter what they are called. For example, it abolished bond service and peonage, forms of compulsory service based on a servant's indebtedness to a master. An individual has a right to refuse or discontinue employment. No state can make the quitting of work a crime, or establish criminal sanctions that hold unwilling persons to a particular labor. A state may, however, withhold unemployment or other benefits from those who, without just cause, refuse to perform available gainful work." sources: Wikipedia, http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Involuntary+Servitude
Why were many African American farmers caught in a condition of debt and peonage?
They did not have enough money to pay for supplies from the company store.
Why were many African-American farmers caught in a condition of debt peonage?
They did not have enough money to pay for supplies from the company store.
Why were many African-American farmers caught in the condition of debt peonage?
There were several ways that African American farmers were caught in a condition of debt peonage during the Reconstruction period following the US Civil Was.African American farmers could not afford to buy land of their own, so they agreed to farm another's land in exchange for a share of the crops (sharecropping). However, many sharecroppers were forced to buy seeds, tools, and other supplies from the landowner's store. Sharecroppers were often illiterate and had to depend on the accounting of the landowner and his staff and were kept in debt. The landowners also miscalculated the value of the crop, thus making the sharecropper unable to pay their debts to the landowner, merchants, and compnay stores.Another way was to use the "Black Codes" and arrest any black man who was out of a job (or between jobs) or arrest them on trumped up charges. A white employer would then pay off their debts of the court costs and fines if the black man would agree to work for the employer to pay off the debt. Paperwork would be lost and they were trapped in debt peonage.
What term refers to the condition of workers who could never afford to pay what they owed to a company store?
Debt peonage
Why were many African Americans farmers caught in a condition of debt peonage?
They did not have enough money to pay for supplies from the company store.
What has the author Elizabeth Singletary written?
Elizabeth Singletary has written: 'Way back' -- subject(s): African American women, Biography, History, Peonage, Women domestics
How did the peonage system affect latin America?
The peonage system is a system of involuntary servitude used to pay off debt to creditors. The peonage system affected Latin America by encouraging slavery in Latin American countries.
which terms refers to the condition of workers who could never afford to pay what they owe to a company?
Debt peonage
What describes the condition called debt peonage?
having to stay at one job just to pay what you owe
What term refers to the condition of workers who could never afford to pay what they owed to company store?
Debt peonage
What best describes the condition called debt peonage?
having to stay at one job just to pay what you owe
Which term refers to the condition of workers who could never afford to pay what they owed to a company store?
Debt peonage
