| Abstract: | Evidence from antebellum Southern rental and sharecrop leases is presented that shows that tenancy was not new to the postbellum South, but had been carried on during the 40 years preceding the Civil War. This evidence shows that antebellum tenancy, like postbellum tenancy, was governed by written contracts that detailed the rights and obligations of tenant and landlord alike. Landlords closely negotiated and continuously administered these contracts. This evidence further discredits the traditional judgment of tenancy, and especially of sharecropping, as inherently inefficient. It sheds little light, however, on why one tenure was chosen over another. |
