How does sharecropping create debt?

Sharecropping:

Step 1 -Sharecropper is provided land and seed. In exchange he promises the landowner half the crop

Step 2 -Sharecropper buys food and clothing on credit from landowner's store

Step 3- Sharecropper plants & harvests crops

Step 4 -Sharecropper gives landowner crop to sell. Sharecropper will get half of the earnings,minus the cost of his purchases for the year

Step 5 -When settling up,landowner says that sharecroppers owes more than he has earned

Step 6 -To pay debt,sharecropper must promise a landowner a greater share of next year's crop.

As with anything else, if you have more necessary expenses (bills or what not) than you have money coming in, you find yourself getting into debt. You cannot spend more than you have and expect not to create debt. When you owe on debt, think about the interest too. In this case the landowner gets half the crop, a bigger share on next years crop, on top of owing on the credit borrowed. If you are poor or already hurting for money, it becomes a cycle hard to avoid. The only way to get out of the mess is to make serious cut-backs or earn more income. If you are already cutting back to only the essentials and making as much income as you possibly can, what else can you do? Plenty of Americans face this dilemma today with trying to maintain the cost of living. It's not something limited to just sharecropping. The fundamentals are the same.

An owner owns the field. You plant the crops, spend the money on seed/fertilizer. Ypu pay the owner rent.

If the crop doesn't do well ( not enough rain, pests ), , you are in debt.