Slave to Sharecropper: The Labor Contract of John Dawson

For our blog assignment I researched a primary source via pbs.org. I found a slave to sharecropper labor contract produced on January 18, 1879 in Parish Madison, Louisiana. The contract listed the first party as the Solid South which after reading is a company that hired former slaves to work the land that it had acquired. And the second party was John Dawson who was hired to work the land and produce cotton under the super vision of the Solid South. There were so many restraints on the Dawson but at the same time he essentially responsible for everything on the land. The stipulations of the work and care of the land they worked was very similar to slavery, as we discussed in class the contract was able to be invalidated at any point that the overseeing party felt like the tenant farmer was thought to be violating any form of the guidelines.

 In my opinion the contract and ones like it took advantage of the illiteracy and lack of finances of former slaves who were already struggling to find jobs and a stable living environment for their families, the contract was written in a way that it indentured blacks and gave the primary power to white land owners. As the contract goes on to list the responsibilities it clarifies that the working tenant is responsible for the up keep of the 15 acres that are to be farmed, as well the bridges and fences etc. on the property, and are financially bound to pay back any loans that Solid South gives them. Including the repayment for the two mules and plow machine. Sharecropping contracts in the south were just a signed document of slavery by the two parties involved. This particular contract made the former slaves sign away their rights to any of the homestead and exemption laws that were in place in Louisiana. They were left with no rights still poor and they once again had to depend white land holders.

As previously stated I found this source on PBS reconstruction and the second civil war/primary sources. I read the words printed in the document while the actual document itself is being kept at the LSU Shreveport in the Noel Memorial Library Archives and it is a part of the Hutchinson family papers