The war is over and a central element of the Southern economy -- slavery -- has been abolished. As former slaves demand wages and former masters strive to maintain profits, an inherently unfair system of sharing labor and land develops.

Not Free Yet
A freed slave describes the violence he lived through after Emancipation.

A Sharecropping Contract
Many ex-slaves were compelled to sign unfair labor contracts like this one.

Good and Kind Treatment is Required
A model contract reveals some of the injustices typical of sharecropping arrangements.

Q&A: Sharecropping and Changes in the Southern Economy
Historians comment on labor relations between former slaves and former masters.

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