AP US History

TOP TEN TERMS: SHARECROPPING

Preparing for the AP US History Exam

Sharecropping is one of the ten most frequently appearing terms on the APUSH exam.

Despite the emergence of pockets of industrial development, sharecropping continued to be the primary economic activity in the post-war Southern economy. The North’s waning commitment to sustained political and economic reforms, enabled unscrupulous landowners and shopkeepers to charge exorbitant prices and unfair interest rates.

It is important to stress that sharecropping trapped African Americans in a seemingly endless cycle of debt and poverty.