How the Great Depression affected the farmers and share croppers of Gwinnett County

Abstract

This paper studies the rates of farm ownership and economic growth of both African American and Caucasian farmers/sharecroppers living in Gwinnett County both before and after the Great Depression. Some of the factors in the declining rates of farms include war, economic turmoil, and changing agricultural policies. Sharecroppers, mostly African American farmers, were hit particularly hard by shifting farming fortunes, being forced into a life of debt by the biased farming system. African Americans experienced devastating conditions during the Great Depression, unable to find work as most of the jobs normally reserved for them were quickly being occupied by Caucasians. As the nation shifted from an agricultural to an industrial society after the changes caused by the Great Depression and World War II, farming in the south was no longer beneficial for African Americans or Caucasians.