answersLogoWhite

0


Best Answer

They did not have enough money to pay for supplies from the company store.

User Avatar

Tora Studios

Lvl 6
3y ago
This answer is:
User Avatar
More answers
User Avatar

Wiki User

7y ago

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.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

9y ago

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.

This answer is:
User Avatar

Add your answer:

Earn +20 pts
Q: Why were many African Americans farmers caught in a condition of debt peonage?
Write your answer...
Submit
Still have questions?
magnify glass
imp
Continue Learning about U.S. History

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


Why were many African American farmers caught in a condition 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.


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


Related questions

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.


What is debt peonage?

A system of involuntary servitude n which the laborer is forced to work off a debt. This was mostly used on Mexicans and African Americans.


What was the main effect of the system of debt peonage that emerged in the South during the late 19th century?

African Americans labored in a system that was nearly the same as slavery.


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-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 was the main effect of the systems of sharecropping and debt peonage put in place in the South after the Civil War?

Sharecropping developed after the slavery system had been abolished. In exchange for labor, the worker received a portion of the crop to sell and use as he wished. In reality, it was another form of slavery. The landlord deducted the rent from the portion of the crop due to the laborer, which very often left the worker with a bare subsistence living.


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