the peonage system

"to maintain the inferior position of Black people within agricultural production, southern whites developed the peonage system and convict leasing. peonage was a logical byproduct of the sharecropping system that replaced slavery immediately after the civil war. in principle, sharecropping represented a real step forward for Black rural workers. an industrious farmer would borrow farm utensils and seeds, and would divide the proceeds from the sale of the produce at year's end. some Black farmers used the system to accumulate small amounts of capital, eventually buying their own farms. many bitterly discovered at the end of a harvest that they actually owed more to the white planter than their share of the crop could pay for. since virtually all white merchants and planters inflated the cost of their supplies, and kept all business records, illiterate Black farmers were caught in a never-ending cycle of debt. 'peonage occurred only when the planter forbade the cropper to leave the plantation because of debt,' writes historian pete daniel. 'a laborer who signed a contract and then abandoned his job could be arrested for a criminal offense. ultimately his choice was simple: he could either work out his contract or go to the chain gang.' southern legislatures and courts always sided with owners in their disputes with Black sharecroppers. once convicted of breaking their legal agreements with white planters, Black prisoners were sometimes bailed out of jail by other white businessmen [slavers?], who in turn paid off the Blacks' fines and previous debts. but as convicts, these Blacks were now obliged to labor for their new 'employer' in work gangs for long periods of years, often under the most brutal physical conditions."

*excerpted from "how capitalism underdeveloped Black america" by manning marable, pg.111