INDUSTRIAL REORGANIZATION IN ALABAMA 475
form it took was that now known as " third and fourth." 8 It was then called " shares." There was little or no tenancy " on halves " or "standing rent." But the average farmer worked his own land, often with the help of from three to ten slaves.
On the borders of the Black Belt in Alabama was a peculiar class, called " squatters." They settled down, with or without permission, on lots of poor and waste land, built cabins, cleared " patches," and made a precarious living by their little crops, and by working for wages as carpenters, blacksmiths, etc. Some bought the small lots of land on long-time payments and never paid for them, but simply stayed where they were. On the borders of the Black Belt in the busy season were found numbers of white hired men working alongside negro slaves; 4 for there was no prejudice against manual labor; that is, no more than anywhere else in the world. 5
BREAKUP OF THE OLD SYSTEM
As soon as the war was over, the first concern of the returning soldiers was to obtain food to relieve present wants and to secure supplies to last until a crop could be made. In the white counties of the state the situation was much worse than in the Black Belt.
- The tenant furnished labor, supplies, and teams, and gave to the landlord a
fourth of the cotton and a third of the corn produced.
4 There was usually good feeling between the whites and blacks at work together, but the negroes at heart scorned the poor whites, and had to be closely watched to keep them from insulting or abusing them. The negro had little respect for the man who owned no slaves, or who owned but few and worked with them in the fields. To protect the slaves against outsiders was one reason why discipline was strict, supervision close, passes required, etc. When both white and black were allowed to go at will over the plantation and community, trouble was sure to result from the impudent behavior of the negro to " white trash," and the consequent retaliation of the latter. The whites often came to the master and wanted him to whip his best slaves for impudence to them. The master, to pre- vent this, regulated the liberty of the slave by passes, etc., and the whites, espe- cially strangers, were expected not to trespass on a plantation where slaves were.
- The so-called " prejudice " against manual labor is perhaps due largely to
abolitionist theories and arguments, which have been partially accepted since the war by some southerners who think it due to the old system to show its lofty attitude toward the common things of life. But the negro had, and still has, a certain contempt for a white who works as he does. And it has always been a custom of mankind white, yellow, or black to avoid manual labor if there is anything else to do.
