ISN pg.

Name: ____________________________________________________________________________

HOW Free?

19

African Americans After Slavery

Activator: Sharecropping Review

Directions: Look at the diagram below. Based on the diagram, could an African American farmer make it out of
sharecropping? Why or why not?

Your Answer:

HOW Free?

African Americans After Slavery

At the end of the Civil War, the 13th Amendment granted freedom to all slaves. However, the question is, were
African Americans completely free following emancipation? Read the following documents and answer the
guiding questions that follow. This packet is due by the start of class tomorrow.

FOCUS QUESTION: How free were African Americans in the South following
emancipation?
Document 1: Sharecropping contract, 1882
To everyone renting land, the following conditions must be agreed to:
For every 30 acres of land (rented by sharecroppers), I [the plantation owner] will provide a mule team,
plow, and farming tools. The sharecroppers can have half of the cotton, corn, peas, pumpkins, and
potatoes they grow if the following conditions are followed, but--if notthey are to have only twofifths.
For every mule or horse furnished by me there must be 1000 good sized rails (logs) hauled, and the
fence repaired if I so direct. All sharecroppers must haul rails (logs) and work on the fence whenever I
may order. The wood must be split and the fence repaired before corn is planted. No cotton must be
planted by sharecroppers on their home patches of land. No sharecropper is to work off the plantation
when there is any work for them to do for me.
Every sharecropper must be responsible for all farming gear placed in his hands, and if not returned
must be paid for unless it is worn out by use.
Nothing can be sold from their (sharecroppers) crops until my rent is all
paid, and all amounts they owe me are paid in full.
I am to gin & pack all of the cotton and charge every sharecropper an eighteenth of his part, the cropper
to furnish his part of the bagging, ties, & twine.
The sale of every sharecropper's part of the cotton to be made by me when
and where I choose to sell, and after taking all they owe me.
1. What did the sharecropper have to do in order to use the plantation owners land, farming tools, and mules?

2. Do you think this is a fair contract? Why or Why not?

3. What parts of this contract do you think caused the sharecroppers to be in debt to plantation owners?

4. Based on this document, how free were African Americans in the South after emancipation? Explain.

Document 2: Mississippi Black Codes (1865)

Vocabulary:
Vagrant: a person without a settled home or regular work who wanders from place to place and lives by
begging
Penal: relating to the punishment of offenders under the legal system.
Vagrancy Law
Section 2. Be it further enacted, that all freedmen, free Negroes, and mulattoes in this state over the age of
eighteen years found on the second Monday in January 1866, or thereafter, with no lawful employment
or business, or found unlawfully assembling themselves together either in the day or nighttime, and all
white persons so assembling with freedmen, free Negroes, or mulattoes, or usually associating with
freedmen, free Negroes, or mulattoes on terms of equality, or living in adultery or fornication with a
freedwoman, free Negro, or mulatto, shall be deemed vagrants; and, on conviction thereof, shall be
fined . $200, and imprisoned at the discretion of the court, the free Negro not exceeding ten days, and
the white man not exceeding six months.
Penal Code
Section 1. Be it enacted by the legislature of the state of Mississippi, that no freedman, free Negro, or mulatto not
in the military service of the United States government, and not licensed so to do, shall keep or carry
firearms of any kind, or any ammunition; and, on conviction thereof in the county court, shall be punished
by fine, not exceeding $10, and pay the costs of such proceedings, and all such arms or ammunition shall
be forfeited to the informer; and it shall be the duty of every civil and military officer to arrest any
freedman, free Negro, or mulatto found with any such arms or ammunition, and cause him or her to be
committed for trial in default of bail.
1. According to the black codes, what can happen to unemployed black men?

2. Based on your answer to #1, would this HELP or HURT the sharecropping system? Explain.

3. Explain African Americans ability to own weapons, according to the black codes. How would this law
protect the power of the white-dominated government?

4. Based on this document, how free were African Americans in the South after slavery? Explain.

Overall Analysis Question:

How does the advancement of one group affect the advancement of another? In other words, how did
Southern whites respond to the abolition of slavery? Why would they act that way? Use two
examples from todays documents.