Was the Crop-Lien System Successful? Why or Why Not

question 86

Multiple Choice

Was the crop-lien system successful? Why or why not?

• A) Yes, it was an effective system because landowners tended to encourage sharecroppers and tenants to grow their own vegetable gardens, thereby allowing them to feed themselves.
• B) Yes, it was an effective system because due to the availability of fertile land, the farms were large and generated considerable amounts of income for both landlord and sharecropper.
• C) Yes, it was an effective system because it developed close and trusting bonds between those who worked the farms and their landlords, as they received a consistent share of the proceeds.
• D) No, it was self-destructive because overplanting tobacco and cotton led to the terrible erosion of farmland and was a post-Civil War version of economic slavery for poor white and black people.
• E) No, it was self-destructive because most farmers owned the land on which they worked and, thus, took good care of it to meet their own needs, rather than paying back the former landlord.

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