mmunity in Topeka, Kansas. The migration of blacks from the South angered some white Southerners who, without a large black population lost an important source of cheap labor. Penalties were heavy for blacks who broke old vagrancy laws or disregarded labor contracts, but the mass exodus continued. For most African-Americans, life was no easier in their new homes, however, because a significant percentage of the migrants were destitute.
Many blacks who remained in the South worked as sharecroppers. When large plantations were broken up and made available to blacks, few had the financial resources to buy. This lack of money explains the step from slavery to sharecropping. As sharecroppers, blacks had to depend on credit for everything. At har
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