Impact of Reconstruction — Unit test

Question 10 • EAP-Virginia and US History A CR

How did the system of sharecropping affect landowners and laborers in the South?

Answer

The system did not provide landowners with enough profits because laborers often took sizable cuts.

The system typically drove laborers off the farms they had worked when they were enslaved and left landowners without workers.

The system often trapped laborers in a cycle of debt and dependence while allowing landowners to profit from laborers’ hard work.

The system left landowners with mounting piles of debt because laborers had little to no incentives to work the fields.

Explanation

Sharecroppers rented land and supplies from landowners, then paid them with a portion of the crops they produced. Because workers often had to buy necessities on credit and settle their accounts after harvest, debts could carry over and keep them dependent on the landowner. Landowners, meanwhile, received a share of the crop produced through the laborers’ work, so choice C is correct.

AI-written and checked against the verified answer.

More from this Course

Unit Test

Unit Test

Unit Test