A system used on southern farms after the Civil War where farmers worked land owned by someone else in return for a small portion of the crops.

• A. Sharecropping
• B. Tenant farming
• C. Indentured servitude
• D. Convict leasing

Answer: (A)

Sharecropping is the system being described. After the Civil War, many Southern farmers worked land owned by someone else and received a portion of the harvested crops as payment. The landowner provides the land, tools, seeds, and sometimes housing, while the laborer supplies the labor. This arrangement allowed landowners to keep producing crops and maintain control over land and credit terms, often trapping workers in a cycle of debt as advances and supplies were repaid from their share of the harvest. The key idea here is the labor-for-a-share setup, rather than paying cash rent or keeping full control of the crop. That’s why this description fits sharecropping precisely.