Diary of A Sharecropper

Mrs. Ford’s 8

th

Grade Social Studies Class 2008-2009

Directions

  After our study of the sharecropping and tenant farming systems, and our trip to the farm, the students were asked to write a journal entry as if they were sharecropping during this time in American history. They were to use the information they learned in class and on the field trip to write their own “personal story.” The following are examples of …

A Day in the Life of a Sharecropper…

A Day in Life of a Sharecropper

May 30, 1928 Today was a very bad day on the farm. When I woke up this morning, I went out to the fields and the mule was gone. The farmer is going to be upset with me for letting the mule get out. I had to walk to the store today to get some more supplies. That was going to take all day, until another fellow from a farm down the road carried me back home in his wagon. When I got back the farmer told me that the mule was found down the road and I finally got some work done today. That mule getting loose cost me .25 cents of my .50 cents for the day. I bet he won’t get loose again.

-Quay

A Day in the Life of a Sharecropper

June 18, 1918 This was a good day. I got up this morning and got the mules ready. We went out to the field to turn the dirt and get the weeds out of the field. The cotton looks like its going to be good this year. The farmer says that the price is good this year and that the crop looks to be bigger than usual. Working out in these fields is hard work, tiring, and hot, but I got my family and we are all getting fed and everybody’s healthy, so I can’t complain. Fifty cents a day ain’t too bad and if we do have a good crop this year, I might make a little extra.

-Juan

A Day in the Life of a Sharecropper

June 27, 1932 I have to wake up at 5 in the morning to go out and pick cotton. Sometimes I would get cut by the bowls. I live in an old wooden house. There are a lot of problems I have with it, but me and my two kids makes it work. My husband was the owner of a farm like this before the Depression, now we sharecrop on someone else’s farm. We grow corn, wheat, beans, and pumpkins, too. I only get paid .50 cents a day, and if I work a whole week without getting sick, I can make $3.00. My life is hard and you never get much sleep unless you sleep on Sunday. But that is when I clean up around here and do some cooking. It is hard and tiring, but we have somewhere to live and a job. We are luckier than some others. -Shonda

A Day in the Life of a Sharecropper

October 12, 1929 I am so tired. Today was a very rough day. It is cotton picking time and we are harvesting cotton from dawn to dusk. The crop was not the best this year, so we won’t be making a lot of money. We didn’t get a lot of rain this year and the boll weevils were horrible. We are struggling to make ends meet. The kids haven’t had new shoes all year and I need some new tools. The farmer is a nice guy but he can’t pay us what he don’t have for himself. So, we will just have to struggle through the best we can. It’s going to be a lean Christmas this year. -Robert