Sharecropping is an agricultural system in which a landowner allows a tenant farmer to use the land in return for a share of the crop produced on the land. The landowner in return would provide the farmer with food, clothes, and other necessities. This method was created in the South after the Reconstruction era and lasted until the mid twentieth century. Sharecropping was intended to benefit both sides of the deal. Farmers were encouraged to stay throughout the harvest season so they could rely on the landowners for food and supplies. However, the farmers were never given the chance to move up on the socioeconomic ladder. The landowners would benefit from receiving the crops from the harvest. Eventually, there was tension between the harvesters and the landowners. Throughout the story, “Barn Burning”, Abner Snopes and his family switch from owner to owner because Abner cannot contain his anger causing him to burn down all the owner’s barns. The Snopes family constantly goes through this cycle. This horrendous cycle is really hard on the Snopes family because they can never settle down. Sarty, one of Abner’s sons, finally cannot put up with his father anymore and decides to leave the family at the end of the story.
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