After the Civil War many freed slaves entered into sharecropping arrangements. Today, some people criticize the institution of sharecropping as a form of exploitation. For example, there is a PBS documentary about it entitled "Sharecropping: Slavery By Another Name." Economic historians such as Joseph Reid, Lee Alston, and Robert Higgs, disagree with this assessment and argue that sharecropping was a mutually beneficial arrangement which emerged in response to conditions at the time. Describe sharecropping, then explain what economic conditions gave rise to it, in contrast to land rental or employment on another person's farm.