Sharecropping and Tenant Farm Game

This is a Sharecropping and Tenant Farming Game.

National Curriculum Standards:

Learners will understand how scarcity and uneven distribution of resources result in economic decisions, and foster consequences that may support cooperation or conflict

Specific Objective:

Students will be able to evaluate the systems of sharecropping and tenant farming, to see whether they were fair and equitable systems by which freedmen and women could have a sustainable life.

Materials:

Budget worksheets provided

Lesson:

After you have covered the bulk of Reconstruction, you can then touch on how the land was distributed among freedmen and women. There were basically two ways in which it was done. Since the vast majority of freedmen and women had practically nothing, they had to somehow rent the land and tools in order to farm. Those that did not have neither, would be sharecroppers. The owner of the land would allow them to use the land and also lend them tools but they would typically have to pay half the profits to the landlord. For those fortunate enough to have their own tools, they could rent the land for a fixed price. They were typically known as tenant farmers. After this has been explained, tell your students that they will experience firsthand how the system worked or (not worked). Divide the class into two groups: tenant farmers and sharecroppers. Also, divide them into pairs within each group. Tell them that they are a married couple trying to make ends meet. Then to half the class give the sharecropper budget worksheet and to the other half, the tenant farmer budget worksheet. Tell them that for each year, they will have to fill out the budget sheet. At the beginning of each year, they will have to select a crop to plant on their little parcel of land. They will have three choices: corn, wheat and cotton. (They may not choose a combination, but they can change their selection each year). Each year, each crop will perform differently depending on the weather and market forces. But they don’t know how each crop will do until the round starts. They’ll just have to guess and try to make it through. Also, for each year, make sure they understand to deduct payments to the landlord, and a fixed living expense.