WEBVTT

00:01.801 --> 00:03.770 align:left position:0%,start line:0% size:100%
- The law of
sharecropping that emerges

00:03.770 --> 00:07.941 align:left position:0%,start line:0% size:100%
is quite complicated, because
of the inevitable conflicts

00:07.941 --> 00:11.344 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100%
that are gonna emerge between
landowners and sharecroppers.

00:11.344 --> 00:13.813 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5%
So if I am entitled to a
percentage of the crop,

00:13.813 --> 00:16.049 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5%
the question that
arises, when do I get

00:16.049 --> 00:18.318 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5%
to take my percentage?

00:18.318 --> 00:20.387 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5%
Do I get to pick my
bale of cotton first,

00:20.387 --> 00:23.590 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5%
and then take it to
the market to sell?

00:24.457 --> 00:26.059 align:left position:12.5%,start line:93.33% size:87.5%
When do I get my cut?

00:26.059 --> 00:28.595 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5%
And so there was a lot
of initial conflicts

00:28.595 --> 00:32.499 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5%
between landowners
and farmers over

00:32.499 --> 00:37.270 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100%
how we divvy up the
proceeds of sharecropping,

00:37.270 --> 00:38.938 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5%
and one of the things
that landowners

00:38.938 --> 00:42.175 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5%
were particularly
keen to control

00:42.175 --> 00:46.012 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5%
was black buying and
selling of cotton.

00:46.012 --> 00:49.482 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100%
So if you were a sharecropper,
and you wanted to

00:49.482 --> 00:51.484 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5%
sell your cotton to
a different merchant,

00:51.484 --> 00:54.320 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5%
or to a black
merchant, increasingly

00:54.320 --> 00:56.523 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100%
it became quite difficult
for you to do that.

00:56.523 --> 00:59.893 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5%
Some of the laws that
were passed to control

00:59.893 --> 01:02.395 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5%
the buying and selling
of cotton were the laws

01:02.395 --> 01:05.065 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100%
that really tripped up
the free people the most.

01:05.065 --> 01:06.699 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5%
These were laws
that made it a crime

01:06.699 --> 01:09.002 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5%
to buy and sell after
dark, for example.

01:09.002 --> 01:11.004 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100%
You had sunup to sundown laws.

01:11.004 --> 01:12.639 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5%
These were laws
that made it a crime

01:12.639 --> 01:15.608 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100%
to buy and sell other than
to a legitimate merchant.

01:15.608 --> 01:19.379 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5%
These were laws that
even made it illegal

01:19.379 --> 01:22.449 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100%
to transport cotton at night.

01:22.449 --> 01:25.485 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5%
Now, these were clearly
all meant to control

01:25.485 --> 01:27.420 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100%
legitimate economic commerce.

01:27.420 --> 01:30.690 align:left position:0%,start line:86.67% size:100%
If this cotton is mine,
why can't I transport it,

01:30.690 --> 01:32.759 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100%
and sell it to whom I please?

01:32.759 --> 01:36.029 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5%
But this kind of
control was meant to,

01:36.029 --> 01:38.898 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5%
over the marketplace,
was used in Alabama

01:38.898 --> 01:41.234 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5%
to exert control
over black renters,

01:41.234 --> 01:42.569 align:left position:0%,start line:93.33% size:100%
and over black sharecroppers.

01:42.569 --> 01:45.171 align:left position:12.5%,start line:86.67% size:87.5%
They wanted to make sure
they did not achieve

01:45.171 --> 01:48.875 align:left position:12.5%,start line:80% size:87.5%
that kind of economic
independence that
was so desired.