Why Was the Sharecropper So Poor?

The absence of cash or an independent credit system led to the creation of sharecropping. High interest rates, unpredictable harvests, and unscrupulous landlords and merchants often kept tenant farm families severely indebted, requiring the debt to be carried over until the next year or the next.

Why was sharecropping common among the poor?

This was the only system that the poor could resort to because they did not have enough money to purchase their own farm and cultivate crops. They were forced to rent and farm small pieces of land and farm them for a living.

Were sharecroppers rich or poor?

However, by dividing the working force into many individual workers, large farms do not benefit from economies of scale. Though the arrangement protected sharecroppers from the negative effects of a bad crop, many sharecroppers (both black and white) remained quite poor.