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.

Sharecropping
Freedmen seek rights as workers, and landowners seek control over their labor. (8:33)

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from the film that relate to this topic.

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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